Cover Image for The Oura smart rings can now detect when you're getting sick.
Mon Dec 09 2024

The Oura smart rings can now detect when you're getting sick.

Symptom Radar identifies when you are experiencing symptoms of respiratory illnesses.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, several wearable device companies began exploring whether their products could detect early signs of the disease. Four years later, Oura has officially launched a feature that alerts users to the possibility of developing a respiratory illness. Although called Symptom Radar, this tool does not have direct diagnostic capabilities; it is inspired by Oura's research into disease prediction during the pandemic. It does not identify whether a person has a cold, flu, or COVID-19, but acts as a "warning light" indicating when the body shows early signs of a possible illness.

Shyamal Patel, director of science at Oura, shared that research indicates a person's physiology can begin to change one or two days before symptoms appear. Based on those changes, the idea is for users to take preventive measures. Symptom Radar is leaving its beta phase and will provide users with metrics such as resting heart rate, heart rate variability, temperature trends, and respiratory rate to detect significant deviations from their long-term baseline values.

By syncing their data every morning, users will be alerted to signs of fatigue linked to respiratory symptoms, which can be categorized as absent, mild, or severe. If minor or significant signs are detected, the Oura app will suggest activating Rest Mode and taking steps to prioritize rest. This feature was initially introduced as part of an experimental program called Labs in April, allowing the Oura team to develop a new algorithm based on a larger dataset.

However, Patel acknowledged that the algorithm is not infallible, which could result in false positives and negatives, although no specific information about its accuracy was provided. Additionally, beta phase users expressed interest in being notified when no symptoms were detected, leading to the official version of Symptom Radar including a historical chart for users to track their health progress over time.

Symptom Radar will be available to all users of the Oura Ring Gen 3 and Oura Ring 4 starting Wednesday, December 11.