Fitbit has officially applied for a U.S. patent on a smart ring that would track the user's blood oxygen and blood pressure levels using medical-level sensor technology.
The smart ring is rumored to be Google's answer to the smart ring offered by its rival, Oura.
Fitbit Smart Ring Patent
Most wearable devices use reflected light to measure the user's blood oxygen. Still, Fitbit wants its ring to behave like a clinical pulse oximeter that passes light through the skin to a photodetector, according to Wareable.
The process can help reduce the noise produced by the detector, and it can also improve the accuracy of blood oxygen measurements while making it feasible to track blood pressure and sugar levels.
The Fitbit smart ring's appeal is clear. It can track your health with a wearable more discreet than a smartwatch or an activity tracker worn on the wrist, according to Android Authority.
The expected high-accuracy measurements would give a smart ring an advantage over other devices that might compromise the quality for the sake of the price or the size.
Whether or not this becomes a reality is still unknown, as this is just a patent application and not a product roadmap.
Also, there are no guarantees that the product will launch anytime soon. The filing shows Fitbit has thoroughly explored the concept, but no other details have been given.
The market competition is tough. Oura is doing really well, but other smart rings such as Motiv have fallen.
Even Amazon discontinued the Echo Loop instead of expanding its sales. Fans of the product will have to wait and see if Fitbit will continue with the smart ring.
Fitbit's Latest Feature Updates
On June 1, Fitbit had released a new update that included enhanced features, as posted on Fitbit's official site. The update included oxygen saturation tracking that lets users access the oxygen level in their blood.
Users can also check their Health Metrics dashboard to show them the trends from the past month to help them interpret their data.
The update also included high and low heart rate notifications. Users can now better understand their heart health thanks to its 24/7 heart rate tracking capability. It can detect and send a notification if their heart rate is outside their set heart rate thresholds.
Users can also hear audible responses from Google. For example, if users ask to set the alarm, Google will notify if it is done and confirm the set time.
Users can also ask Google how long they've slept, and Google will respond with the exact hours and minutes. Users will see replies in text format and with audio responses too.
The update will now let users switch their clock's face so they can change it anytime without leaving the main screen.
By pressing and holding the clock face for a few seconds, it will open the Clocks app, and users can choose from a selection of clock faces.
Also, users can celebrate new milestones with the New Celebrations feature that will show their fulfilled fitness goals.
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Written by Sophie Webster
