Oura Ring is launching a new feature that can identify the cardiovascular age and cardio capacity of the wearer to help them gauge their long-term heart health.
The smart ring company has been focused on developing features that reflect near-term metrics.
Oura Ring Aims to Impact Long-Term Health
Oura shared that the company plans to dedicate more metrics that concern long-term health. Over the years, Oura's smart ring has been launching several new features but all of them are purely on short-term metrics.
"With these features, we're sort of introducing this idea of longer-term health. What are the things that you're doing today? How are they contributing to your health in the longer term, your health span, your longevity," said Shyamal Patel, head of science at Oura.
The cardiovascular age feature will identify how progressive your heart is aging compared to your chronological age. Science shows that stiffer blood vessel requires the heart to work harder which contributes to faster aging in the organ. Moreover, it would cause more wear and tear on the organs due to the constant changes in blood pressure.
Oura to Measure Cardiovascular Age, Capacity
Oura rings are equipped with photoplethysmography sensors, these are the green lights that are used by several companies to measure heart rate. The feature measures the pulse wave velocity to analyze any stiffness.
The result will be available to users after 14 days of tracking. The system will categorize your heart age based on three levels: above, below, or in alignment with your chronological age. The system will also estimate how older or younger your heart age is at the moment.
To use the cardio capacity feature, users will be asked to walk as fast as they can within six minutes. A VO2 Max estimate will be used to measure the cardiorespiratory health. The higher the score, the better the endurance.
