Since the success of Fitbit, there’s been an endless parade of activity trackers offered through crowdfunding platforms and via traditional channels.
While many of these either treat sleep monitoring as a secondary feature or focus exclusively on the sleep experience, the Oura ring starts with sleep experience monitoring as a foundation for determining optimum activity levels. The ceramic scratch-resistant finger adornment gets an impressive three days of battery life from its tiny battery and charges in about an hour.
Its companion app provides feedback on different sleep cycles, offers advice for perking up, recommends whether it’s a good day to strive for some new level of achievement or rest and relax. Oura (pronounced “ora”) seeks $100,000 by September 24th. Its rings, available at a $229 early bird and expected to be $299 at retail, are expected to ship in November.
As noted, Oura joins a crowded market for activity trackers and even faces a few competitors in the dedicated sleep diagnostics space from smart bedding, some of which need not be worn or charged. That said, the company has crammed an impressive amount of technology into a tiny and reasonably attractive wearable.