By Jim Shimabukuro (assisted by Copilot)
Editor
[Related: AI Healthcare Wearables in May 2026: Sibel, Aktiia, OTO, Dreame, Qualcomm, AI Healthcare Wearables in May 2026: Alva, Proteus, QuantumOp, Nanowear, Apple]
Samsung Galaxy Ring (Samsung, South Korea/Global). Samsung has moved aggressively into AI-enhanced smart rings with the Galaxy Ring, positioning it as a discreet but powerful health companion that sits at the center of the Samsung Health ecosystem. The company is headquartered in Suwon, South Korea, but the Ring is being rolled out across dozens of markets, with global availability expanding through 2024–2025 (1,2). The innovation lies in a titanium ring packed with optical biosensors, accelerometer, and skin-temperature sensing, feeding Galaxy AI to generate readiness-style “Energy Score,” advanced sleep environment reports, and stress and mindfulness insights that go beyond step counts and heart rate. Commercial launch began in 2024, with broader market penetration and software refinement continuing into 2025 and beyond. It matters because it normalizes ring-based, AI-personalized health tracking at smartphone scale, potentially shifting millions of users from casual fitness metrics to continuous, longitudinal biomarker monitoring that can support early risk detection, women’s health insights, and more nuanced lifestyle coaching (1-3).
Google Pixel Watch 3 with Loss of Pulse Detection (Google, United States). Google’s Pixel Watch 3 stands out not just as a smartwatch, but as one of the first mass-market wearables to implement automated “Loss of Pulse Detection,” an AI-driven safety feature designed to recognize when the heart has likely stopped and trigger an emergency response. Developed by Google Research in the U.S., the system uses multipath optical sensors, infrared and red light, motion data, and an AI algorithm to detect a complete absence of pulse, then escalates from subtle prompts to an automatic emergency call if the wearer does not respond. The feature was initially piloted in European markets in 2024 and received U.S. FDA clearance in early 2025, with rollout to U.S. users beginning around March 2025. This matters because it reframes consumer wearables as potential “witnesses” for unwitnessed cardiac arrest, opioid overdose, or sudden respiratory failure, turning a wrist device into a first-line safety net that can automatically summon help in situations where no human bystander is present (4-6).
Movano EvieMED Ring / Evie Ring (Movano Health, United States). Movano Health, based in the United States, is pushing toward true medical-grade smart rings with its Evie platform, which includes the consumer-focused Evie Ring and the clinical EvieMED Ring. The EvieMED Ring recently received FDA 510(k) clearance for its pulse oximeter, validating its SpO₂ measurements for use in clinical trials, remote patient monitoring, and post-trial management, with design attention to accuracy across diverse skin tones and continuous-wear comfort. Clearance was announced in December 2024, with pilot programs and clinical collaborations—including studies on long COVID, chronic Lyme disease, and high-risk populations—planned and initiated from 2025 onward. The innovation is a finger-worn device that aims to bridge consumer usability with regulated, clinical-grade metrics, and the company is explicitly pursuing additional FDA clearances for respiration rate, cuffless blood pressure, and noninvasive glucose monitoring using proprietary RF technology (8-10). This matters because it points toward a near-future in which a “ring” can function as a reimbursable, clinically trusted sensor for chronic disease management, population health programs, and decentralized trials, potentially reducing barriers to continuous monitoring for women and other historically underserved groups (7-10).
WearOptimo Microwearables Hydration Patch (WearOptimo, Australia). WearOptimo, headquartered in Brisbane, Australia, is developing a new class of “Microwearables”—minimally invasive skin patches that use microelectrodes and AI to access high-fidelity physiological signals that surface wearables cannot reach. Its first flagship product is a hydration-monitoring patch designed for continuous, real-time assessment of hydration status in high-risk environments such as mining, military operations, and elite sports. The patch uses microelectrodes that penetrate just below the skin barrier without activating pain receptors, feeding a machine-learning platform trained on more than a billion hydration data points to interpret subtle shifts in fluid balance. Commercial launch is targeted for around 2027, with current work focused on validation and early deployments in industrial and athletic settings, and the company has signaled future applications such as early warning for heart attacks built on the same Microwearables platform. This matters because it foreshadows a move from “surface-only” wearables to minimally invasive, AI-interpreted micro-sensing that can capture signals—like precise hydration and potentially ischemia-related changes—that wristbands and rings cannot, opening a path to earlier intervention in heat injury, cardiovascular events, and other acute risks (11).
Ultrahuman Ring Air (Ultrahuman, India/Global). Ultrahuman, founded in India and now operating globally, is positioning the Ultrahuman Ring Air as a lightweight smart ring tightly integrated with metabolic and circadian analytics rather than just generic fitness tracking. The titanium ring tracks heart rate, HRV, skin temperature, movement, sleep stages, stress, and circadian rhythm, and feeds these into app-generated scores for sleep, dynamic recovery, movement, and “metabolic” status, with particular emphasis on biohacking-style insights such as optimal caffeine timing, light exposure windows, and brain-health–oriented recovery guidance. The Ring Air has been commercially available for several years, but 2024–2025 reviews highlight its maturation into one of the lightest smart rings on the market, with 4–6 days of battery life and no mandatory subscription, and ongoing development of a revised U.S. design following patent disputes. Its innovation is less about a single novel sensor and more about integrating ring-based biometrics with a broader metabolic platform (including glucose and hormone-related insights) to help users manage biological age, glymphatic clearance during sleep, and circadian alignment in a more system-level way. This matters because it points toward a future where consumer wearables are not just trackers but orchestrators of multi-sensor, multi-organ “health operating systems,” giving individuals continuous feedback loops that connect sleep, metabolism, stress, and performance into a coherent, adaptive plan rather than isolated metrics (12-14).
References
(1) “Explore Galaxy Ring | Smart Ring | Samsung US.” https://www.samsung.com/us/wearables/galaxy-ring/ (samsung.com in Bing)
(2) “The Definitive Guide to Samsung Galaxy Ring AI Health Features 2025: Revolutionizing Health and Wellness.” PenBrief Blog. https://penbrief.com/samsung-galaxy-ring-ai-health-features-2025/ (penbrief.com in Bing)
(3) “What Does Galaxy Ring Do: Everything You Need To Know.” Wearable Technology Life. https://www.wearabletechnologylife.com/what-does-galaxy-ring-do/ (wearabletechnologylife.com in Bing)
(4) “Loss of Pulse Detection on the Google Pixel Watch 3.” Google Research Blog. https://research.google/blog/loss-of-pulse-detection-on-the-google-pixel-watch-3/ (research.google in Bing)
(5) “Pixel Watch 3 Becomes First Smartwatch FDA-Approved for Loss of Pulse Detection.” 9meters. https://9meters.com/pixel-watch-3-loss-of-pulse-detection-fda-approved/ (9meters.com in Bing)
(6) “Pixel Watch 3 Loss of Pulse Detection coming to the US in March.” 9to5Google. https://9to5google.com/pixel-watch-3-loss-of-pulse-detection-us/ (9to5google.com in Bing)
(7) “FDA clears pulse oximeter in EvieMED Ring.” American Academy of Sleep Medicine. https://aasm.org/fda-clears-pulse-oximeter-in-eviemed-ring/ (aasm.org in Bing)
(8) “FDA Clears Pulse Oximeter in EvieMED Ring.” Sleep Review. https://sleepreviewmag.com/sleep-diagnostics/connected-devices/wearables/fda-clears-pulse-oximeter-eviemed-ring/ (sleepreviewmag.com in Bing)
(9) “Movano Health Secures FDA Clearance for Female-focused EvieMED Ring’s Pulse Oximeter.” Femtech Insider. https://femtechinsider.com/movano-health-eviemed-ring-fda-clearance/ (femtechinsider.com in Bing)
(10) “Movano EvieMED smart ring gets FDA approval.” Wareable. https://www.wareable.com/news/movano-eviemed-smart-ring-fda-approval (wareable.com in Bing)
(11) “WearOptimo’s AI-Powered Skin Patch Revolutionizes Hydration Monitoring for Athletes and Industry.” Medical Device and Diagnostic Industry (MD+DI). https://www.mddionline.com/artificial-intelligence/wearoptimos-ai-powered-skin-patch-revolutionizes-hydration-monitoring (mddionline.com in Bing)
(12) “Ultrahuman Ring Air Review.” NBC Select. https://www.nbcnews.com/select/shopping/ultrahuman-ring-air-review-rcna157993 (nbcnews.com in Bing)
(13) “Ultrahuman. Real-time sleep and recovery tracking. Ultrahuman Ring AIR.” Ultrahuman. https://www.ultrahuman.com/ring-air
(14) “Ultrahuman Ring Air review: A fitness tracker that’s great for biohackers, but confusing for everyone else.” Business Insider. https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/health/ultrahuman-ring-air-review (businessinsider.com in Bing)
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