A study found the Oura Ring can detect pregnancy. | Photo by Victoria Song / The Verge
In early May, Ben Smarr published a new study showing that the Oura smart ring can detect pregnancy before most people take a test. It was an exciting finding — earlier detection of pregnancy based on wearable devices could, he wrote in the paper, “increase the agency of pregnant individuals.”
Smarr, a data scientist at the University of California, San Diego does research on wearable devices and health — including reproductive health. He’s working with Oura on other projects around pregnancy. His team is also looking to see if data from devices can detect miscarriages.
Reproductive health in general — and its intersection with wearables in particular — is an often underexplored area of research. The applications were exciting. But the…