Editing Oura Ring

{{Tool Infobox
|Related topics=HRV (Heart Rate Variability), Activity tracking, Sleep tracking, Body temperature tracking, Heart rate tracking
|-}}

The '''Oura Ring''' is a wearable that is worn on a finger as a ring which tracks [[Sleep tracking|sleep]], [[Activity tracking|activity]] and [[Readiness tracking|readiness]]. Since 2013 there have been three different versions of the ring, with the latest version (v3) being launched in November 2021. At the same time they changed their business model, requiring a monthly subscription for access to all metrics recorded.

While the sensor set of the rings have changed over the versions, generally they contain an [[accelerometer]], a [[Body temperature tracking|temperature sensor]] as well as an [[Pulse oximetry|optical heart rate]] sensor. From these sensors the Oura calculates the following metrics: 

[[File:Oura-ring-gen3-stealth.jpg|300px|thumb|right|A generation 3 Oura Ring, showing some of the sensors on the inside of the ring]]

==Differences between models==
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Model
!Sleep tracking
!Activity tracking
! Readiness tracking
!Heart rate 
during sleep
!Heart rate
during day
! Body 
temperature
!Menstrual 
cycle tracking
!Blood oxygen
tracking
|-
|Generation 1 {{citation needed}} <ref>The current values are only guesstimates</ref>
|{{Ya}}
|{{Ya}}
|{{Ya}}
|{{Ya}}
|{{Na}}
|{{Ya}}
|{{Na}}
|{{Na}}
|-
|Generation 2
|{{Ya}}
|{{Ya}}
|{{Ya}}
|{{Ya}}
|{{Na}}
|{{Ya}}
|{{Na}}
|{{Na}}
|-
|Generation 3
|{{Ya}}
|{{Ya}}
|{{Ya}}
|{{Ya}}
|{{Ya}}
|{{Ya}}
|{{MaybeCheck}}<ref>Currently in beta testing for users of Gen 3 ring</ref>
|{{Ya}}<ref>Launched in late summer 2023</ref>
|}

==Metrics provided==

*[[Heart rate tracking|Heart rate related]]: Resting Heart Rate, [[HRV (Heart Rate Variability)|Heart Rate Variability,]] Respiratory Rate
*[[Body temperature tracking|Body Temperature]] (relative changes, not absolute)
*Sleep (total sleep, sleep phases throughout the night)
*[[Activity tracking|Activity]] (calorie burn, steps, walking distance 'equivalent')

=== Body temperature metrics ===
Oura does not report the absolute temperature recordings (neither through the phone app, nor through API data exports). Instead it provides two ways of reporting relative changes. 

The '''''daily view''''' of body temperature displays how the average nightly body temperature compares to the average of all body temperature readings done in the past, thus comparing it to the baseline body temperature as recorded over time. As a result the average and median of all recordings will always be zero0. 

The '''''trend view''''' of the body temperature is a bit more complicated. Oura states that "the trend view displays a weighted average of how your body temperature varies from your baseline based on a three-day window" and that "days closed to the current date will have more of an impact on your readings"<ref>https://support.ouraring.com/hc/en-us/articles/360055983614-Trends</ref>. Oura does not disclose the details of how the weighting of records is done and as such it is not possible to really understand or recreate how the company arrives at these values. One observation is that the ''trend'' values tend to be slightly biased towards positive values, probably as the distribution of possible body temperatures is not fully normally distributed, but rather censored on the lower end<ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/ouraring/comments/v6zirx/how_is_temp_trend_always_positive/ibl6vy1/</ref>. 

==== Use for menstrual cycle tracking ====
The rings of the 3rd generation include an Oura internal beta-test for cycle tracking. Furthermore, since mid-2022 the ''[[Natural Cycles]]'' app – a cycle tracking app that's cleared for use as birth control – can use the temperature data from the ring as main input to predict fertile time windows<ref>https://www.naturalcycles.com/oura</ref>. 

== Exporting data==
As for most wearables, there is unfortunately no (easy) way to access all raw data from the device. But Oura offers a way to [https://cloud.ouraring.com/profile download at least all of your calculated metrics from the ''Oura Cloud'' web interface]. Beyond this, they also offer an API to automate access to Oura data in third party tools. An example implementation is the [https://oura.openhumans.org/ ''Oura'' integration into Open Humans], which automatically fetches the latest data at multiple times throughout the day.

In January 2022, Oura announced a version 2.0 of their API for exporting data<ref>https://api.ouraring.com/v2/docs</ref>. This new API is under development and so far only provides access to more detailed activity data (such as intra-day heart rate) but not to any readiness and sleep information and so far there is no timeline when these other metrics are added to the new API. Oura also announced that the old version 1.0 of the API will be around for at least a year before being shut down. 

== Subscription ==
When Oura released the 3rd generation of their ring, they announced that they would introduce a monthly subscription model that is priced at $5.99 before tax in the USA, €5.99 after tax in the EU and $6.99 after tax for the rest of the world. For users of a 3rd generation ring, the subscription is necessary to get full access to all the metrics the ring records. Early adopters were offered a 'free' lifetime subscription when upgrading to a 3rd generation ring at release at the end of 2021. Users of earlier generations are not required to switch to the subscription model. Oura has been criticized for introducing the subscription model at a time where the promised new features of the 3rd generation (see above) were not yet released. In June 2022 the blood oxygen tracking has still not been released.

==Project using Oura Ring==
Given the different kinds of sensors used in the Oura Ring, a diverse set of projects have been done with it:

*[[User:Gedankenstuecke|Bastian Greshake Tzovaras]] has 
**used it alongside time-tracking data from [[RescueTime]] and geolocation-data from [[Overland]] [https://tzovar.as/QS-lockdown-life/ to understand the impact of COVID-19 lockdowns on himself].
**[[Sleep recordings: Oura vs Fitbit|compared sleep data between the Oura Ring]] and [[Fitbit]].
**looked at [https://forums.openhumans.org/t/effects-of-smoking-on-heart-rate/298 how smoking impacts his (resting) heart rate as measured by Oura].
*Herman de Vries has explored the relationship between [[HRV (Heart Rate Variability)|HRV]], [[Sleep tracking|sleep]] and [[Activity tracking|physical activity]] [https://hermandevries.nl/2020/09/23/relationships-between-hrv-sleep-and-physical-activity-in-personal-data/ by using an Oura Ring]
*Beni Kmoz used 800 days of Oura data, [https://annofoneblog.wordpress.com/2021/11/09/finding-patterns-in-my-days-a-visual-exploration-of-my-oura-data%ef%bf%bc/ hierarchical clustering and principal component analysis to understand how menstrual cycle and physical activity explain the data].

== References ==
<references/>


[[Category:Tools]][[Category:Hardware]][[Category:Fitness and heart rate tracking tools]][[Category:Blood testing and tracking tools]][[Category:Body temperature tracking tools]]