Photo: Weiquan Lin/Getty Images
Ring maker Oura has acquired Doublepoint, a private, Helsinki-based company that enables gesture recognition in wearables.
Doublepoint offers its Doublepoint Kit, which allows for the integration of gesture recognition technology into augmented reality and virtual reality headsets, the internet of things (IoT) and smartwatches.
The company uses Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) sensors for pinch detection. IMUs measure a body's specific force (acceleration), angular rate (rotation rate) and sometimes magnetic field strength to determine motion in 3D space.
Doublepoint touts that when its IMU sensors are paired with eye tracking, its pinch detection lets a user look at what they want and then pinch to select it.
Its IMU technology also allows for wrist-based ray casting, which detects where a wearer is pointing and senses when they pinch their fingers together, and smart IoT control, allowing a user to turn lights on and off, turn up music and peruse through channels on a TV via their smartwatch.
Through the acquisition, Doublepoint's AI architects and builders, including the company's four founders, will join Oura's team. They will be primarily based in Helsinki but work with Oura teams worldwide.
"As we continue to build the next era of Oura, strategic acquisitions play a key role in accelerating our growth and expanding what our devices and platform can do," Tom Hale, CEO of Oura, said in a statement.
"Welcoming the Doublepoint team into Oura strengthens our bench with world-class talent, reinforces our long-term commitment to growing in Finland, and helps us move even faster to deliver intuitive, human-first experiences for our members across devices, services, and environments."
THE LARGER TREND
Last year, Oura secured more than $900 million in funding, bumping its valuation to approximately $11 billion.
In 2024, Dexcom and Oura announced a strategic partnership after the continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) company made a $75 million strategic investment in the ring maker. The continued partnership allowed two-way data flow between Dexcom's CGMs and the Oura Ring.
That same year, Oura closed a $200 million Series D funding round, raising its valuation to $5.2 billion.
Oura also acquired Sparta Science, which offered its Trinsic data platform that collects, analyzes and provides information on human health and performance. The ring maker would use the company's offering to expand its Oura Enterprise Platform B2B offering.
In addition, the company entered into an agreement to acquire Finnish company Veri, which used the FDA-cleared Abbott FreeStyle Libre 1, 2 and 3 sensors to monitor a user's metabolic health by collecting data from their body.
In 2023, Oura purchased digital identification startup Proxy in an all-equity deal. Proxy offered digital identity technology that aims to replace keys, cards, badges, apps and passwords.
Oura scored $100 million in a Series C round in 2021 and, a year later, announced it reached a valuation of $2.55 billion. Oura garnered $28 million in Series B funding in 2020.
Apple is another company that offers a wearable with pinch technology. In 2023, the tech giant announced the Apple Watch Series 9, which allows a wearer to control the Watch using their index finger and thumb via blood flow sensors. The double tap gesture allows users to interact with the Watch by tapping their index finger and thumb together twice.
With the feature, users can answer or end a phone call and control the primary button in an app, stop or snooze an alarm, and play and pause music. It also launches the smart stack from the watch face and allows users to scroll through widgets.
