With his first baby due in just a few weeks, no doubt Prince Harry is trying to make the most of his sleep while he can, and what better way to do that than with the leading product in sleep technology?
When the Duke of Sussex was spotted sporting a non-descript - but entirely descript by consequence of whose hand it was on - black ring while on a royal tour to Australia with wife Meghan, a comparatively small area of the Internet fell into rabid chaos, labeling Prince Harry an influencer and dissecting what this new accessory meant for him.
Not just a piece of trendy jewellery, this was an Oura band, a sleek and wearable device that tracks sleep and activity using infrared technology. Not just that, it monitors body temperature, heart rate, and blood volume pulse to chart body movement using a 3D accelerometer and gyroscope.
After your night's sleep, a phone-linked app will record all the data, including the time spent in bed, time asleep, your REM cycles, whether you were in light or deep sleep, your resting heart rate, changes in your body temperature and other quirks of a sleeping body.
The idea behind the ring is to promote better sleeping by learning what your body does when you're out for the count. While knowing your REM sleep cycles won't solve your sleep problems on its own, by monitoring the data you can make small adjustments to your routines and work your way towards a better night's sleep.
The app will also talk to you, advising you on how to maximise your "readiness" for tasks when it gauges you need help the most.
Fancy as that sounds, at €314 Harry actually has the cheaper version of the cutting-edge design: a silver version studded with a line of diamonds retails for €1,049. Compelling as the technology is, we're more invested in Harry's potential as an influencer. Is it too late to make the "Harry effect" a thing?
And being the gadget of choice of Silicon Valley billionaires and "biohackers" - those who aim to structure their life better through technology - the focus on data is intense, with endless deviations and trends to delve into on the website.
We figure when the new royal baby arrives, however, it will be less data than "dada".
