[imagesource: Oura]

With the rise and rise in popularity of the Apple Watch, and other trackers like Fitbit and Garmin, perhaps we’re nearing the point where everything that adorns our body is tech-capable.

This tongue-piercing? Monitors my chewing and alerts me when I’m swallowing chunks too big for optimal digestion, boet.

OK, we haven’t yet arrived at that point, but smart rings are becoming increasingly common, especially in professional sports around the world.

The Oura Ring is perhaps the most popular option, and WIRED recently scored it 8/10. Here’s a little from that review:

I was prepared to hate the Oura. But after wearing it for a month, I now acknowledge that things rich people like are very nice. It’s not exactly a fitness tracker, but rather a small, smart, and most of all convenient health tracker that monitors vital signs few others do…

Rather than bombard you with raw data, the Oura measures deviations from the norm. This is a smart and digestible way to check your biometrics….

Image: Victoria Song/Gizmodo

You can click through the companion app to check all of the data, including sleep stages, steps, heart rate, body temperature deviation. But it gets boiled down into three separate metrics when you open the app: your activity goal progress, your readiness, and your sleep score.

You might recall that Prince Harry has been wearing one for a while now. Good times.

For a visual, there’s this from the official Oura YouTube channel. Look at it – so layered:

Much of the hype around the ring centred on the fact that people believed it could pick up early signs of COVID-19.

That’s a no from this review, but with some credit given where it’s due:

The Oura’s sensors are remarkably accurate. It didn’t detect Covid-19, but it did accurately detect when my body temperature fell right before my period started—a temperature drop that is so slight that most women use ultrasensitive, specialized basal body thermometers…

If you’re concerned you’ve been exposed, you’re still going to have to drive to a testing site to get a swab stuck up your nose.

Another review, courtesy of Gizmodo, hypes up the sleep tracking aspect of the ring:

As a sleep tracker, I think the Oura Ring does an excellent job. Actually, I’d say it’s one of the best ones out there. I can’t stress enough how much you don’t notice it on your finger unless you happen to be looking straight at it….

If you are looking for a deep dive into sleep and recovery, then the Oura Ring is one of the best wearables out there right now – so long as you take the hype around it with a grain of salt.

Pricewise, from the official site, you’re looking at $299 (around R5 000), so your toy doesn’t come cheap.

You can make your own mind up, but 8/10 isn’t going to see me fork the dosh over.

[sources:wired&gizmodo]