Exclusive: Oura VP hints at a future where ‘complementary wearables' assist your smart ring

Tom's Guide

19 hours ago

There's no brand better associated with smart rings than Oura. Although the finger-based wearables market is barely ten years old, to get a sense of where it might be headed in the next decade, I chatted with Jason Russell, vice president of consumer software products at Oura.
As part of a Tom's Guide special report on the future of wearable tech in the year 2035, my conversation with Jason ranged from harvesting body heat for device power to "integrating complementary wearables" beyond the smart ring into the brand's portfolio of helpful, holistic tech.
While the Oura Ring 4 is the best smart ring you can buy in 2025, what I hoped to hear from Jason is what a theoretical Oura Ring 10 might look like. Fortunately, his predictions don't disappoint.
You can find an edited version of my interview below, and for more insights into the wide world of next-generation tech, visit our In the World in 2035 hub to peer into the crystal ball and see the future of transportation, AI, robots, television, and more.
Jason Russell: We expect to see longer battery lifespans in the next decade. Hardware improvements like advanced sensor technology will have a significant impact, while software enhancements — including more efficient signal paths and the ability to disable unused sensors — will also contribute meaningfully.
Flexible batteries and body-powered energy harvesting are also compelling areas of future exploration. Flexible batteries have the potential to conform better to their device, enabling new form factors and comfort without sacrificing power.
Body-generated energy — through thermoelectric, kinetic, or even bio-voltaic sources— is still early-stage but interesting. The challenge is achieving sufficient power density in a small, wearable footprint.
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By 2035, it's plausible that wearables could integrate hybrid energy systems that passively recharge throughout the day, vastly extending runtime and reducing dependency on charging cycles.
We foresee stretching the boundaries of biometric sensing via the ring while integrating complementary wearables that together enable an even more complete picture of your health.
Russell: The Oura Ring 10 will likely reflect a major evolution in both form and function. Oura continually stretches the boundaries of what's possible in biometric sensing, comfort, and wearability, and that will continue to be true.
With 20-plus PhDs on staff driving cutting-edge research in cardiovascular health, metabolic health, women's health, and much more, future rings will continue to demonstrate pioneering innovation beyond what we might imagine to be possible today. Beyond our hardware, we'll also see breakthroughs in the role we play in people's health journeys.
As we've already demonstrated with our recent launch of our metabolic health partnership with Dexcom, we foresee stretching the boundaries of biometric sensing via the ring while integrating complementary wearables that together enable an even more complete picture of your health.
Our members see Oura as a gateway to a much deeper understanding of their health, and you can see how Oura will expand on that promise as multiple streams of health data converge — biometric signals from the ring, metabolic insights from external sensors, even contextual data from your environment or behaviors.
This unified view will enable richer, more predictive health intelligence, helping people not only understand their health in real time but also anticipate issues before they arise.
Russell: Mental health and stress management will become even more proactive and personalized, and we'll see AI play a larger role in this management. For example, Oura Advisor currently uses an LLM algorithm to analyze and contextualize thousands of biometric data points to provide members with personalized guidance so that they can make informed decisions about their health.
In a future state, we could see Advisor using long-term trend data to proactively identify potential health issues through fluctuations in things like stress, sleep, HRV, heart rate, and more.
Additionally, we see Oura collaborating with the broader health ecosystem to enhance telehealth and clinical decision-making by leveraging real-time health metrics and trends with healthcare professionals.
We see a world in which Oura can help support self-management, but also prompt proactive care interventions.
Russell: Smart rings of the future, including Oura, will likely track a broader range of health metrics. In the last year alone, we have significantly expanded our product offering from our original pillars of Sleep, Activity, and Readiness to now include other key areas of health, such as stress, cardiovascular health, and metabolic health.
As sensors become more advanced and miniaturized, the depth and granularity of data will also increase significantly. But the biggest shift will be in how insights are delivered: instead of just showing you the data, future insights could anticipate changes in your health, offer personalized, real-time guidance, and adapt to your unique physiology and goals, making the experience more predictive, proactive, and deeply personalized than ever before.
Russell: Smart rings and wearables more broadly are evolving beyond traditional wellness tools and into more comprehensive healthcare devices. In the future, they could support clinical applications like remote patient monitoring, early detection of chronic conditions, or continuous tracking of biomarkers relevant to metabolic, cardiovascular, or hormonal health.
Beyond tracking, they may enable secure sharing of health data with care teams, integrate with electronic health records, or even assist with medication adherence through real-time prompts. As these capabilities grow, smart rings will increasingly serve as a bridge between everyday life and clinical care, bringing healthcare out of the clinic and into the home.
There's also a potential for smart rings to play a role in more ambient, personalized experiences, such as supporting better sleep or recovery by syncing with your environment, like adjusting lighting or sound to match your circadian rhythm.
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