Oura Ring: Using AI Image Recognition to Track Meals

My wife recently stopped using the Oura Ring and became a Fitbit user, so I became a proud owner of a new tech gadget. If you haven’t heard of the Oura Ring before, it’s a ring-like device that you wear on your finger and throughout the day, it records your biometrics data such as heart rate, body temperature, and HRV from the embedded sensors. Every morning you get a summary report of how well you slept the night before, perceived energy level, and other helpful tips to start your day.

One interesting feature is the Log a Meal option, which allows the user to take a photo of what they’re eating and the AI through image recognition will assess the healthiness of the meal. Note, this feature is not a calorie estimate or macronutrient assessment. Rather, it’s a broad generalization of the meal to help inform the user how to better balance their meals throughout the day — e.g., if there are too many Limited food choices, then the AI will suggest adding protein and / or fiber to the meal to help balance overall nutrition.

Picture of a bowl of potato chips that was shared with Oura. Note how the AI provides helpful suggestions on balancing my meal.

I find this feature a helpful way to integrate AI into an existing product. Instead of relying on precision (i.e., recording calories and macros), this feature is complementary to the user experience by tracking food consumption and suggesting ways a user can better balance their meals.

By recording meal trends, Oura Ring guides users in making healthier meal choices.

Anyone who has gone through calorie counting knows it can be a very cumbersome process to record everything they eat, but by tracking the food’s general category (Nutritious, Good, Fair, Limited), users are empowered to make better food choices without the mental burden of knowing how many calories they’re going to consume.

By making it easier for the user to make healthy eating decisions, Oura Ring’s implementation of AI to track meals ultimately leads to a better user experience. I hope to see more companies adopt AI in similar ways that can enhance an existing product.