ZDNET
I've been wearing an Oura Ring for over a year. Whenever I'm asked about my thoughts on the device, I say that the Oura Ring is one of the few products that nearly always does exactly what it claims to do.
The ring can predict when you're about to get sick, catch variations in your heart rate, provide an accurate list of ingredients to log after you take a photo of your breakfast, and document your physical and emotional stress in real time. I'll never forget how it captured my sky-high daytime stress levels after going through airport security for the first time wearing the Oura Ring.
Also: The best smart rings
In fact, the Oura Ring and the brand itself are a perfect example of how magical it can be when technology fulfills its promises. I told Oura's CEO Tom Hale this opinion during a recent interview and he laughed. He told me I had low expectations about technology. Maybe they'd be considered low, I thought, if Oura weren't innovating in a market position that other tech brands are now vying to copy.
Oura's first smart ring was released in 2015. It was only last year that Samsung released a first-gen smart ring of its own. There are murmurs that Apple could be developing a ring, but that tech could take months or even years to come to fruition. While the competition catches up, Oura's Hale has grander plans -- and a broader mission to improve users' health.
Not enough doctors
The ethos of the Oura Ring is grounded in the belief that our healthcare systems are struggling to provide primary care. "We have the most doctors relative to our population, and still we don't have enough doctors to provide primary care to people," Hale said.
So, to address this problem, what if the Oura Ring could function as a concierge doctor, that is, a care provider that focuses on personalized, continuous, and preventative care?
Also: Oura Ring 3 vs Oura Ring 4: Should you buy the discounted smart ring or the brand's newest?
... continue reading