Oura wants to help you remember and record your dreams
A newly published patent from Oura reveals a system that aims to detect when you’re dreaming, suggest what the dream might have been about and help you remember it. The idea involves combining their smart ring with phone-based prompts, recording tools and even playback options.
Oura’s dream of tracking your dreams
We’ve seen lot’s of patents over the years, but this is definitely one of the more bizarre ones. Oura published it a few weeks ago.
According to the filing, the ring collects signals from your body during sleep, such as heart rate, skin temperature and movement patterns. Nothing strange there. But then, these signals are analysed to determine whether you’re dreaming and what type of dream it might be. If the system detects likely dream activity, it can trigger a gentle prompt or notification, asking if you’d like to record what you remember.
It doesn’t stop there. The user interface shown in the filing includes a “Dream Recorder” with selectable tags like “Car”, “Happy” or “Son”. Users can speak aloud to describe what they saw or felt. The audio can then be stored and later played back through the app. The concept resembles a dream journal crossed with a health tracker, only this one nudges you while the memory is still fresh.
Sensors and signals
The smart ring uses a combination of signals to detect REM sleep or other periods likely to involve dreaming. The system may compare this against typical sleep stages or even your personal history of dream-related data to make more accurate predictions.
The patent also outlines possible methods for identifying specific dream themes. One approach is to compare physiological signals from a given night to those from previous nights where the user confirmed they had a dream. Based on pattern matching or AI, the system may suggest likely dream topics or contexts.
Notably, it’s designed to work without disrupting sleep. The alerts and prompts can be timed to appear when the user is already transitioning between sleep stages, reducing the chance of full awakening. There’s even mention of using different types of sounds, vibrations or lights to wake the user up gently, right after a dream.
From dream detection to dream recall
Beyond recording, the system offers tools to help users reflect on their dreams. One image in the patent shows an app displaying a playback screen with a sunrise and a prompt asking, “Was this accurate?” This kind of feedback could be used to refine the system’s predictions over time. If a user confirms that a suggested theme matched their memory, the algorithm learns. If not, it adjusts.
There’s also the possibility of “dream playback” tools. This could mean re-listening to a voice memo or reviewing tags and visual cues associated with past dreams. The patent hints at helping people explore long-term dream patterns or even link them to health metrics like stress or sleep quality.
Early days but clearly on the roadmap
Oura has already shown interest in deep sleep analytics, guided wind-down sessions and mental wellness features. This patent takes it further into cognitive territory. The company could easily pilot this through its app and iterate based on user feedback.
We’ve seen quite a few patents from Oura n the past few months, most recently for a pair of smart glasses that visualise health data. At this stage, there’s no indication of when (or if) the dream recording functionality will roll out publicly.
But is this really functionality people are hoping for? Frankly, it borders on the absurd. Still, the patent goes into surprising depth for what’s essentially a dream-recording assistant. It pulls together wearables, AI and behavioural guesswork into what might be the most elaborate attempt yet to track your subconscious through a smart ring.
This article originally appeared on Gadgets & Wearables, the first media outlet to report the story.
Source: US Patent Office
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