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ZDNET’s key takeaways
- Oura is opening a facility in Texas to serve the Department of Defense.
- This facility will open next year.
- Oura Rings will continue to be used in several research studies that enhance soldier performance.
Wearables were once confined to fitness trackers that counted steps. Today, the devices are crucial research tools for the Department of Defense.
Smart ring maker Oura is opening a manufacturing facility in Fort Worth, Texas, to serve its biggest customer, the Department of Defense, it announced on Wednesday. With its facility expansion slated to open next year, the health tech brand cites efforts to advance defense operations across stress management, resilience training, fitness optimization, fatigue risk management, and early illness detection.
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The military might be an unexpected partner for Oura, but it has historically advanced medicine through research and deployment of innovative health tools. The expansion not only reflects the growing role of wearable technology in accurately tracking and optimizing health outcomes, but also proves Oura’s increasing influence in the health tech space.
Oura has worked with the department across all branches, closing more than 100 deals with government customers in 2025 alone, according to an Oura spokesperson. The company has a history of working with the Department of Defense to explore health solutions. In 2022, Oura’s data-capture expertise contributed to a real-time risk score for COVID-19 identification among the military workforce, helping to prevent widespread illness.
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“We are committed to equipping service members and leadership with precise biometric data and robust solutions to support readiness, resilience, and effectiveness,” Tom Hale, chief executive officer of Oura, said in a press release.
The smart ring’s data capture will be used for several studies that assess connections between sleep and biometrics, including one launching later this year. The Naval Health Research Center and its Command Readiness, Endurance, and Watchstanding (CREW) program will use Oura Rings in a study on crew fatigue that includes over 1,000 sailors aboard its carrier strike group. The study, which will help commanders manage and optimize rest and performance, is the largest volunteer-based analysis of crew fatigue.
Additional research will use the smart rings to assess soldier effectiveness. The research will use the biometric data Oura captures to enhance performance individually and across units. Oura’s biometric data integration will be applied to predictive models, such as one that assesses a soldier’s likelihood of achieving equipment certification on their first attempt.
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In one test, 400 soldiers wore the Oura Ring to monitor their biometric responses to a field exercise and predict overall performance. “Initial results suggest that biometrics could be valuable predictors of operational effectiveness, and in the future could be used to inform personalized training regimes to maximize readiness and performance,” Oura said in a press release.
