A new Kickstarter project is stirring up quite the interest on the crowdfunding site and social media: the Oura ring, a ring-sized wellness computer. The Oura ring has vast ambitions of improving the wearer’s sleep and a very high price tag of $230 for one wearable device. Now the question is: how can a sleep tracker improve one’s sleep? The team behind the Oura ring seems to have figured that out and with ten days left for backers to get in on the already funded Kickstarter campaign, we don’t have long to find out how.
The Oura ring is not in fact $230, but instead its original price listed by the makers is $300, which is a bit expensive for a ring-sized gadget, even if it’s a wellness computer. So what can the small gadget do besides sleep tracking? Coupled with the Oura app, the ring promises better sleep and better performance through monitoring.
What the idea is that the Oura ring can tell when you’re asleep or not and thus accurately map your activity and physical well-being thanks to its optical heart rate monitor and array of sensor which can measure body temperature, movement and activity duration, as well as intensity. Essentially, the Oura ring does what every other fitness tracker.
Samsung recently launched the Samsung SleepSense, which can do much of what the Oura ring can and the Withings Aura has been around for some time now. From these three, neither is affordable, as all are between $200 and $300 a pop, which is quite surprising seeing as fitness trackers can do much of the same things for a fraction of the price.
Moving on to the software side of things, the Oura ring comes with an Oura app that collects, analyzes and visualizes the sleep patterns that its bearer has as well as measures the quality of sleep and activities that it records. It can also work as a sedentary reminder, as it can tell when you’re sitting and being… well, sedentary. Moreover, makers say the gadget can determine whether your body is ready for activity or not and thus improve your overall performance.
According to CEO Petter Lahtela, the Oura ring is the most advanced wearable wellness device on the market. Moreover, it’s water- and scratchproof, which are nice additions to the feature list of the device. Whether the Oura ring is as revolutionary as advertised will be revealed in November, when the device is supposed to begin shipping.
Until then, you can check out the Kickstarter page for the Oura ring and make sure to check the updates that are accessible to you, as they might contain relevant information about the project and backers. If you’re interested in “the best sleep tracking device” on the market, you’re going to have to pay the $230 price associated with the second tier of rewards on Kickstarter.
