Grumpy in the Morning? OURA Says You’re Not to Blame as It Launches Sleep Tracking Features for its Ring

The wearable tech company has launched new sleep tracking features to understand how to catch the best z’s

OURA has unveiled several new sleep tracking features and app optimizations for its ring so users can deepen their understanding of their sleep cycles.

The ability to discover chronotype, which reveals whether an OURA owner is a morning or night person, or perhaps falls somewhere in the middle, is the highlight of OURA’s new sleep-tracking features.

According to the wearable technology company, chronotype is heavily influenced by genetics and reflects an individual’s circadian rhythm, which regulates alertness, digestion, and hormone release.

With chronotype information, OURA wearers can now understand why they may still be dragging their feet in the morning despite going to bed at a reasonable hour the night before. 

The OURA ring determines chronotype by tracking sleep, activity, and body temperature data from the past 90 days. OURA ring owners are encouraged to consistently wear the ring during the night and daytime to get an accurate chronotype reading.

There are six chronotypes, according to the wearable tech company:

• Early morning type: Less than 10% of people are early morning types. They are awake and alert in the early mornings and get a lot done in the wee early hours.
• Morning type: Morning people enjoy getting up early and going to bed early and experience alertness and energy when the sun comes up.
• Late morning type: These people may be productive in the mornings and enjoy going to bed early but can withstand an occasional late night. 
• Early evening type: Those who are early evening types enjoy some late evenings but don’t mind going to bed early. They can keep to social schedules easily, but they don’t particularly love early mornings.
• Evening type: These types love late nights and become more awake and alert as others start to wind down for the evening.
• Late evening type: Late evening people need their sleep in the mornings and won’t feel fully awake until the afternoon on some days. Less than 10% of people are late evening types, says OURA.

Knowing your chronotype has numerous benefits and can impact energy levels, sleep, and well-being. Matthew Walker, Ph.D., author of “Why We Sleep” and an Oura advisor, says being armed with personalized sleep knowledge will also reveal key information. 

For example, evening types need an additional hour in the morning before they release hormones that help them manage stress and emotions. These night owls shouldn’t be expected to be alert and cheery in the morning, says Walker. Perhaps most importantly, Walker says evening types may discover that they are chronically sleep deprived and should consider finding a schedule that allows them to sleep more in sync with their natural preferences.

Three other new features that OURA released are body clock, sleep regularity, and sleep score.

The body clock works with chronotype and helps users understand their optimal sleep schedule. The clock can also provide advice on how to adjust sleep timing. Sleep regularity will identify disruptions or irregularities that impact sleep, and sleep score allows irregular sleepers and shift workers to better understand how to make their sleep schedule work best for them.

According to the CDC, a third of US adults typically get less sleep than is advised. A bad sleep cycle can have disastrous consequences, and chronic conditions like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and depression have been linked to lack of sleep.

To promote its latest features, the wearable tech company recently took over Times Square with a dazzling digital display to encourage the city that never sleeps to rethink the importance of sleep.

Late last year, the Finland-based OURA introduced a corporate wellness employer program, OURA For Business. The brand has also collaborated with luxury fashion house Gucci to release a special $950 wearable.