Smart ring maker Oura has teamed up with West Virginia University’s Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute to try to predict the spread of COVID-19 in healthcare providers. By combining the wearables with an AI prediction model, the researchers can currently predict symptoms like fever, cough and fatigue 24 hours before their onset. The team -- which is tracking 1,000 healthcare professionals -- hopes to increase that lead time to three days or more. The ability to more quickly provide a prognosis will hopefully limit the spread of the virus among healthcare workers, patients, family members and the public.

The scientists at the Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute are leveraging Oura’s biometric sensors to measure increased body temperature, as well as psychologically-driven changes induced by stress and anxiety. The researchers have also leveraged Oura’s technology in studies concerning chronic pain, addiction, aging and more.