Exclusive: Oura CEO Harpreet Rai explains how smart rings kept NBA stars safe in Florida

Lakers and LeBron James are just one game away from winning 2019-20 NBA championship title. It is difficult to picture all of this. t because y don't possess a championship-quality roster, but due to massive impact of deadly coronavirus pandemic. Just in March this year, re was a major sense of panic among fans, players and CEOs of all major leagues as multiple reports suggested that live sports won't return for a long, long time. Games were postponed, venues were shut and athletes were told to continue training at home. Mayhem.

Meanwhile, top officials scrambled over plans to find a quick solution but sudden surge in number of active cases and reports of deaths due to virus meant y had to come back with better ideas.

On March 14, NBA suspended its season indefinitely. Or leagues followed too. discussions between leagues and top officials remained private but as number of cases declined mid-June, NBA and NBPA finalised a comprehensive plan for a July 30 restart. This included stringent health and safety protocols, a single-site campus at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Florida and collective preparation to combat systemic racism and promote social justice.

READ: NBA Players Offered Oura Ring To Track COVID-19 Symptoms, Fans Oppose Idea On Twitter

In NBA's 113-p long manual of health and safety protocols, league provided details of a number of precautions, one of m was collaboration with Oura, creating ‘smart ring’ to detect potential symptoms related to COVID-19. Within days, NBA ordered more than 2,000 devices to monitor heart rate, heart rate variability, respiratory rate, and temperature that will calculate a ‘Risk Score’ in an attempt to catch silent spread of COVID-19.

Although t mandatory, players had option to wear $300 Oura ring. Additionally, platform was designed to protect privacy of players and staff. Incidentally, Lakers star Kyle Kuzma was first athlete to voice his concerns on device. CNN and or outlets reported that some doctors questioned its accuracy and potential. re were or sceptics of wearable too.

Nets star Spencer Dinwiddie wanted to kw if NBA commissioner Adam Silver was going to wear device inside bubble. company's investors include former Lakers star Shaquille O’Neal and American Actor Will Smith among ors.

CEO of Oura Ring Harpreet Rai spoke exclusively to Republic World to give a fascinating insight into collaboration with NBA, accuracy of device, identifying COVID-19 symptoms through ring among or things.

Excerpts:

How did NBA approach you? Could you tell us about initial conversation?

Harpreet: NBA had been conducting rigorous testing on a variety of health tech wearables and our initial discussions were focused on how we might be uniquely suited to help in this unprecedented time as y prepared for bubble.

How quickly can ring determine wher an individual has COVID-19?

Harpreet:  Oura ring is a supplement to testing, t a replacement. Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute at West Virginia University recently released findings from a self-funded study, stating that signals from Oura Ring can detect onset of COVID-19 related symptoms. Research is still ongoing.

What differentiates Oura from or smart devices?

Harpreet:  Oura Ring is one of only mainstream consumer health wearables that measures body temperature directly from your skin rar than estimating it from your external environment. Temperature is a vital component of accurate sleep analysis, athletic performance and ability to uncover potential signs of illness. Many wearables don’t track body temperature at all and ors only capture temperature of your external environment, t your body.

ring form factor also sets Oura apart - Oura measures from arteries in your fingers rar than settling for capillaries on surface of your wrist, as humans have a 100x stronger pulse signal on ir finger versus ir wrist. Many wearables don’t track body temperature at all, and ors only capture temperature of your external environment, t your body.

READ: NBA Releases 113-p Safety Protocol Ahead Of Season Restart In July: Full Report

Could you tell us how you convinced NBA to add Oura rings to ir list of safety protocols?

Harpreet:  NBA has a committee that is responsible for rigorously vetting any techlogy that is associated with player health. y looked to outside guidance, through University of Michigan, to be an independent and unbiased validator of techlogy as well, and ultimately decided that Oura was best choice to meet ir needs. Oura was uniquely suited to be used by NBA from both a techlogy and an enterprise service perspective.

Oura Rings measure body temperature 24/7 in addition to HR, HRV and Respiratory Rate and more accurately from finger vs. from wrist. Oura also has a Health Risk Manment platform in place for organizations to support existing health and safety protocols. Oura’s commitment to data privacy was ar factor, and why NBPA was also closely involved in decision-making process.

How will device track body performance and can data be trusted all time?

Harpreet: Oura tracks performance through accurate sensors and body temperature measurements. It uses infrared light photoplethysmography (PPG), which reaches deeper than green light LEDs found in most or wearables. Oura provides personalized health insights by using individualized baselines to determine when an individual’s patterns are deviating from ir unique rmal.

While Oura is t a medical device, its capabilities stack up against advanced medical techlogies. For a resting heart rate, it has 99.9% reliability compared to a medical-grade electrocardiogram (ECG) and is validated against sleep lab golden standard – PSG. With heart rate variability, it has 98.4% reliability compared to medical-grade ECG and measures temperature changes as small as 0.01 °C.

Oura was born in Finland, where data privacy is extremely important. It has been in company’s DNA from very beginning. NBA program is completely voluntary and opt-in. Additionally, Oura ensures privacy of players through an “aggregated risk score” which is assessed by factors such as meaningful changes in body temperature, respiratory rate, resting heart rate, and heart rate variability which indicate if an individual may be experiencing symptoms correlated with certain illnesses or conditions. Only aggregated risk score, t individual metrics, are available to authorized NBA and NBPA staff members.

What are challenges in trying to measure performance and detect infection through a ring?

Harpreet: Oura helps you listen to multiple signals in your body like a radio tuning in to different frequencies. Any one signal might sound like static but toger y paint a clear picture of how your body is doing. If an infection is meaningfully impacting one of those signal (in your heart or your lungs, for example), a device like Oura can pick up on that change. If an infection doesn't impact those systems, n you need a different listening tool.

READ: NBA Restart: Adam Silver Worried About Major Coronavirus Spread As It Could End Season

How were players and coaching staff explained about importance of ring?

Harpreet: Oura is offering full-service onboarding support, where players are explained functionality and benefits of techlogy through a webinar with all Team Player Health Staff in partnership with NBA staff.

Can data be misused?

Harpreet: Oura is committed to protecting privacy of participating players and staff. Within its Health Risk Manment platform, developed to help support organizations with existing health and safety protocols, Oura has created an aggregated risk score. score takes into account factors such as meaningful changes in a user’s baseline body temperature, respiratory rate, resting heart rate and heart rate variability, which may be correlated with onset of illness. risk score is only shared with authorized NBA and NBPA staff to indicate who may be in a higher risk category and to recommend additional testing.

How much data is eugh to detect COVID-19 symptoms?

Harpreet: ring becomes more finely tuned to your personal physiological signals longer you wear it, although Oura typically recommends at least two weeks of use for ring to establish your personal baseline. te that ring is meant to be an early indicator of deviations and signals that may detect onset of illness.

It is t a replacement for testing.

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Apart from NBA, has any or league approached you?

Harpreet: Yes, we are in conversations with or leagues. We cant comment furr at this time.

How do you see device sustain in long run?

Harpreet: Oura exists to help people improve ir sleep, better understand ir bodies and reach ir goals. Oura will continue to focus on sleep, as we believe it is one of most important and underlooked areas of health.

We are constantly evolving, having recently rolled out an improved intuitive home screen for our Oura app that dynamically surfaces insights to users based on time of day. We will continue to make se kinds of updates to enhance our user experience and furr inform and educate people on ir health. We are also looking forward to continuing to participate in valuable research and applying data to understand larger health trends.

(Im courtesy: Oura)