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

The Lakers and LeBron James are just one game away from winning the 2019-20 NBA championship title. It is difficult to picture all of this. Not because they don't possess a championship-quality roster, but due to the massive impact of the deadly coronavirus pandemic. Just in March this year, there was a major sense of panic among fans, players and the 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 the sudden surge in the number of active cases and reports of deaths due to the virus meant they had to come back with better ideas.

On March 14, the NBA suspended its season indefinitely. Other leagues followed too. The discussions between leagues and top officials remained private but as the number of cases declined mid-June, the 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 the collective preparation to combat systemic racism and promote social justice.

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

In NBA's 113-page long manual of health and safety protocols, the league provided details of a number of precautions, one of them was the collaboration with Oura, creating ‘smart ring’ to detect potential symptoms related to COVID-19. Within days, the 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 the silent spread of COVID-19.

Although not mandatory, the players had the option to wear the $300 Oura ring. Additionally, the platform was designed to protect the privacy of the players and staff. Incidentally, Lakers star Kyle Kuzma was the first athlete to voice his concerns on the device. CNN and other outlets reported that some doctors questioned its accuracy and potential. There were other sceptics of the wearable too.

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

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

Excerpts:

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

Harpreet: The 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 they prepared for the bubble.

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

Harpreet: The Oura ring is a supplement to testing, not a replacement. The Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute at West Virginia University recently released findings from a self-funded study, stating that signals from the Oura Ring can detect the onset of COVID-19 related symptoms. Research is still ongoing.

What differentiates Oura from other smart devices?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

While Oura is not a medical device, its capabilities stack up against advanced medical technologies. For a resting heart rate, it has 99.9% reliability compared to a medical-grade electrocardiogram (ECG) and is validated against the 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 the company’s DNA from the very beginning. The NBA program is completely voluntary and opt-in. Additionally, Oura ensures the 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 the aggregated risk score, not individual metrics, are available to authorized NBA and NBPA staff members.

What are the 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 together they 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, then you need a different listening tool.

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

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

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

Can the data be misused?

Harpreet: Oura is committed to protecting the privacy of the participating players and staff. Within its Health Risk Management platform, developed to help support organizations with existing health and safety protocols, Oura has created an aggregated risk score. The 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 the onset of illness. The 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 enough to detect COVID-19 symptoms?

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

It is not a replacement for testing.

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Apart from the NBA, has any other league approached you?

Harpreet: Yes, we are in conversations with other leagues. We cannot comment further at this time.

How do you see the device sustain in the long run?

Harpreet: Oura exists to help people improve their sleep, better understand their bodies and reach their goals. Oura will continue to focus on sleep, as we believe it is one of the 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 the time of day. We will continue to make these kinds of updates to enhance our user experience and further inform and educate people on their health. We are also looking forward to continuing to participate in valuable research and applying data to understand larger health trends.

(Image courtesy: Oura)