The Oura Ring

82: Fitness Trackers, More Like Sickness Trackers

I was a person who never wore a watch. I didn’t like the feeling it had on my wrist. That is, until 2 years ago when I got an Apple Watch as a birthday present. I haven’t taken it off since. I love it My watch face looks like this:

The thing I like most is the personal tracking. I track my daily water intake (upper left), my exercise (30 minutes a day – the green circle), and my sleep every night. The gamification of my water intake – showing my progress all day, every time I look at my watch – has resulted in my consumption of at least 66 ounces a day for the past year.

The watch tracks my movement and heart rate as I sleep. Tracking my sleep has shown me how much alcohol impacts my nightly rest and how my mood correlates very closely with my 3-day average number of hours of sleep. Here’s are some other things my sleep app shows:

I bring this up because I recently read that wearable devices like the Apple Watch and the Oura Ring are being used to predict when COVID-19 cases might occur. From the article:

Data from a wearable device can reveal coronavirus symptoms days before you even realize you’re sick. That means fitness trackers could be on their way to becoming sickness trackers.

The Oura Ring can predict up to three days in advance when people will get a fever, coughing or shortness of breath. If these devices can signal when someone is getting sick before they know it, then we can detect sooner and keep the population healthier.

There’s obviously a long way to go and privacy concerns, but I’m a sucker for new technology especially if it will allow us to live more socially but still be safe.

Making a Difference

I’ve been wondering what changes can be made that will make a difference, specifically with police departments. I found this podcast very illuminating as it has the stats, figures and examples of what police departments have done things well and which ones haven’t and what the immediate actions that can be taken by cities and departments to make real change.

Other Stuff

Oh man:

Here’s soon-to-be my weekend setup in my living room. Just need an iron and bubble gun:

Cases

USA

Oregon, Arizona and Texas are on the ride and Florida has to be close behind because Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Wednesday that bars and clubs will be allowed to reopen on Friday.

Hot spots in the USA:

Happy Friday everyone. Sprint through the finish line!

Only 64 more days to go

 

 

 

 

 

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