On Tuesday, The Athletic’s Shams Charania shared details from a memo sent by the National Basketball Players Association to players, regarding health and safety for life in the Orlando bubble (the season is slated to resume beginning July 30 at the Walt Disney World Resort).
One detail from the memo included the option for players to wear an Oura smart ring — staff members can also wear it — that can detect potential COVID-19 symptoms.
Players will also have the option of wearing an Oura smart ring that may help with the early detection of the coronavirus and will track temperature, respiratory and heart rate and other measures.
A study done by West Virginia University’s Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute discovered that the Oura ring is capable of predicting COVID-19-related symptoms “three days in advance with over 90 percent accuracy.”
The RNI platform uses the Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute app, the Oura Ring, and artificial intelligence (AI)guided models to forecast and predict the onset of COVID-19 related symptoms (e.g. fevers, coughing, breathing difficulties, fatigue, and others) three days in advance with over 90 percent accuracy.
Well, here’s a look at the ring (which sells for $300), as first shared by CNBC:
NBA players will wear a ‘smart ring’ at Disney world, per https://t.co/UCLdrFVMWo
The Oura smart ring is capable of predicting COVID-19 symptoms up to 3 days in advance with 90% accuracy. The ring can measure body
temperature, respiratory functions and heart rate. pic.twitter.com/pYYIqOLDbZ— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) June 18, 2020
ESPN’s Zach Lowe reported on Tuesday that teams won’t have access to player data from the ring, “aside from instances in which the ‘illness probability score’ triggers a further medical review.”
Team staff will *not* have any access to player data from the wearable ring (should any player actually choose to wear it) aside from instances in which the "illness probability score" triggers a further medical review. https://t.co/q7nk1cBzIa
— Zach Lowe (@ZachLowe_NBA) June 17, 2020
While the Oura ring isn’t mandatory, players will be required to wear a Disney MagicBand at all times (aside from workouts and games). The MagicBand works as a hotel key, and also for security checkpoints and COVID-19 screenings. But the MagicBand can also be used to detect contact tracing, according to CNBC.
About Matt Clapp
Matt is an editor/writer at The Comeback and Awful Announcing.
He can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.