Whether you’re a health and wellness enthusiast or just starting out, you’ve probably considered purchasing a wearable tracker at some point in your journey.
In fact, there’s probably a good chance you’re wearing one right now.
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Indeed, these days, wearable devices that track fitness, personal goals, sleep, and other health markers are more popular than ever. Thanks to dozens of newly available devices at relatively affordable prices, the wearable device market is one of the fastest-growing segments in the tech space.
So it’s no surprise that about one in three Americans wear a fitness tracker to map their well-being. And there are so many choose from.
One of the most popular devices is the Apple (AAPL) To watch, and for good reason. The Watch, first launched in 2015, comes out with a relatively new iteration each year and can be used to chart metrics such as:
- Elevation and depth measurements
- Sleep estimates and measurements
- Heartbeat
- Medication recalls
- Mindfulness Reminders
- Cycle tracking
- Number of steps
- Calories burned
- Email, iMessage, and phone call capabilities
One of his main competitorsOura Ring, is owned and operated by a much smaller Finnish company, but focuses its attention more on holistic wellness, offering users insight into:
- Heart rate variation (HRV)
- Respiratory rate
- Blood oxygen levels
- Sleep quality
- Body temperature
- Recovery
- Activity
- Mindfulness and stress levels
Oura is testing a new feature
It’s only natural that Oura and Apple Watch would try to outdo each other, constantly releasing new features to entice potential users away from one ecosystem and toward their own.
Most recently, Oura revealed its latest feature available on its app, meaning it would be compatible with both its older Heritage ring as well as its new Horizon ring designs.
The app features a new section launching Wednesday called Oura Labs, which users can use to track their health using Oura’s new symptom radar. The Symptom Radar uses inputs from the Oura Ring to distinguish tiny bodily changes that could indicate a user is under the weather or at risk of becoming ill.
Oura says it will detect these changes using the following metrics:
- Temperature difference
- Respiratory rate
- Resting heart rate
- Heart rate variability
Oura already measures these data points, but grouping them together as part of a new tracking feature is new.
If the Symptom Radar experiences a significant change, it will alert a user with their Readiness Score, which indicates how prepared and recovered a user is for the day ahead. Oura maintains that the report is not a “diagnostic function” and is not intended to directly detect illness or disease, and users should always listen to their body for clues about their own health.
Once a user is alerted to a potential change in their well-being, they can then activate a rest mode feature or adjust their daily fitness goals while working to recover and return to normal fitness levels. optimal physical fitness. It’s important to note, however, that this feature isn’t foolproof and a litany of other variables, like poor nights of sleep, intense training, or alcohol consumption, can skew the report.
The feature is also still in testing mode, allowing users to give Oura feedback on their unique experiences with the new product. Oura will then ostensibly modify and improve its product based on user testimonials – or remove the feature altogether – if the company deems it compelling enough.
Apple Watch currently doesn’t have outright wellness monitoring, although the feature is something of a golden goose that’s highly sought after by most wearable companies, especially since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Covid.
Apple Watch does, however, offer information on irregular or unusual heart rates, heart rate variability, VO2 max (depending on which model you have), and body temperature.
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