Nordic-powered smart fitness ring measures biomarkers for workout and recovery suggestions

The Ultrahuman Ring Air employs Nordic’s nRF52840 SoC to oversee heart rate, movement, and temperature sensors

Fitness technology company Ultrahuman has launched a smart ring that can track and record a range of health parameters, and simultaneously offer the wearer activity or recovery recommendations. The ‘Ultrahuman Ring Air’ is designed to provide a range of metrics—including a movement index and a sleep index—that can help the user better understand and improve their fitness level and the factors that affect their metabolism.

Full suite of sensors

The smart ring integrates a range of sensors to record sleep, movement, heart rate, heart rate variability (HRV), and skin temperature, as well as Nordic Semiconductor’s multiprotocol nRF52840 SoC. The Nordic SoC’s powerful 64 MHz, 32-bit Arm® Cortex® M4 processor with floating point unit (FPU), plus 1 MB Flash memory and 256 KB RAM, supervise the sensors and record the data, while its 2.4 GHz multiprotocol radio provides Bluetooth® LE wireless connectivity to the user’s smartphone and the ‘Ultrahuman’ app.

The nRF52840 SoC’s processor was powerful enough to meet all the needs of the smart ring, while the class-leading power consumption helped us achieve a lifetime of up to five days between charges

Mohit Kumar, Ultrahuman

“Ultrahuman Ring Air’s lightweight composition and sleek design enable superior comfort during lifestyle activities like sleeping, napping, or even workouts in the gym,” says Mohit Kumar, Founder and CEO of Ultrahuman. “Tracking your health should be a seamless experience, that’s why we went back to the drawing board to redesign the smart ring from the ground up to break the barriers of existing wearable form factor design. For example, your HRV levels can determine whether you’re primed for your workout, or if you should rest instead and give yourself time to recover.”

The wearable has been designed to include no screen or haptic vibrations, to avoid distractions from notifications. Instead, data is relayed to the ‘Ultrahuman’ app on the user’s iOS or Android smartphone, from where they can review their health metrics. The Ultrahuman digital platform includes content on meditation, workouts, sleep, and metabolic health – as well as suggestions from coaches and psychologists.

Powerful uncompromising SoC

“Because of the size constraints of our hardware form factor, we required a low power SoC with a small footprint that didn’t compromise on performance,” says Kumar. “The nRF52840 SoC’s processor was powerful enough to meet all the needs of the smart ring, while the class-leading power consumption helped us achieve a lifetime of up to five days between charges, using a 24 mAh Li-Po battery.

“Nordic’s well-established development community and support, paired with the SoC’s excellent performance during testing, made working with Nordic an easy decision.”