LAS VEGAS (AFP) – A ring shimmers on display at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), but this is no mere piece of jewelry – it’s packed with sensors capable of detecting body temperature, respiration and much more.

Startups at the annual gadget extravaganza in Las Vegas touted technology-enhanced accessories designed to look fetching on the outside while scrutinising what is happening on the inside of wearers.

“We want to democratize personal health,” said Amaury Kosman, founder of the French startup that created the Circular Ring.

While that goal was shared by an array of exhibitors, some experts worried a trend of ceaselessly tracking steps, time sitting, heart rate and more could bring risks of stress and addiction.

Circular Ring provides a wearer with a daily “energy score” based on the intensity of their activity, factoring in heart rate, body temperature, blood oxygen levels and other data, according to Kosman.

“At night it continues, we track the phases of sleep, how long it takes you to fall asleep, if you are aligned with your circadian rhythm, etc,” he said of the ring, which will cost less than EUR300 (USD340) when it hits the market later this year.

“And in the morning it vibrates to wake you up at the right time.”

A mobile application synced to the ring is designed to make personalised lifestyle recommendations for improving health based on data gathered, according to the founder.

Demand for body-tracking “wearables” is strong: CES organisers forecast that more than USD14 billion will be spent this year in a category that includes sports tech, health-monitoring devices, fitness activity trackers, connected exercise equipment and smartwatches.

That figure is more than double what was spent in the category in 2018.

Growth has been driven by smart watches such as those made by powerhouses Apple and Samsung, as well as Internet-linked sports gear – which boomed during the pandemic – and personal tracking devices.

Companies are also moving to fill a need for instruments that provide data that can be relied on as part of a pandemic-driven trend of remote health care.

Swiss Biospectal taps into smartphone cameras to measure blood pressure when a finger is placed over a lens.

French Quantiq is developing algorithms that calculate heart rate, respiratory rate and blood pressure from “selfies”.

Meanwhile, Japanese start-up Quantum Operation has designed a prototype bracelet that continuously measures the level of glucose in the blood. Diabetic patients would be spared needle jabs for frequent blood sugar tests.

Body-minding wearables can provide valuable health data, but some fear a “quantified self” trend is blurring the line between well-being and stressful obsession.

South Korean firm Olive Healthcare displayed a “Bello” infrared scanner that analyses stomach fat and suggests how to lose it, along with a “Fitto” device that assesses muscle mass and ways to increase it.

Society needs to determine whether these kinds of tools solve problems or “give rise to new dependencies”, contended German political scientist Nils-Eyk Zimmermann.

A danger is that the “digital self” generated by such technology does not match reality, reasoned Zimmermann, who blogs on the topic.

He also saw danger in “game” features, such as rewards and peer competition that put pressure on users that may not be healthy.

NAJAF, IRAQ (AFP) – Iraqi boxer Bushra al-Hajjar jumped into the ring, gloves raised to eye level, and strike out at her sparring partner.

Her bigger struggle, though, is to deliver a blow against social taboos.

In Iraq’s holy city of Najaf, the sight of a women’s boxing hall is unusual but, like others here, the 35-year-old boxing instructor is fighting deeply-ingrained taboos.

“At home, I have a full training room, with mats and a punching bag,” said the mother of two, who also practises karate.

Hajjar won gold in the 70 kilogramme-class at a boxing tournament in the capital Baghdad in December.

“My family and friends are very supportive, they’re very happy with the level I’ve reached,” she said, a blue headscarf pulled tightly over her hair.

Twice a week, she trains at a private university in Najaf, 100 kilometres south of Baghdad, where she also teaches sports.

In overwhelmingly conservative Iraq, and particularly in Najaf, Hajjar acknowledged her adventure has raised eyebrows.

“We’ve come across many difficulties,” she said. “We’re a conservative society that has difficulty accepting these kinds of things.”

She recalled the protests when training facilities first opened for women, but said “today, there are many halls”.

Boxing student Ola Mustafa, 16, taking a break from her punching bag, said: “We live in a macho society that opposes success for women.”

However, she said she has the support not only of her trainer but also of her parents and brother, signalling that social change is afoot.

“People are gradually beginning to accept it,” she said. “If more girls try it out, society will automatically come to accept it.”

Iraqi boxing federation president Ali Taklif acknowledged that Iraqi women engaging in the sport is a “recent phenomenon”, but said it is gaining ground.

“There is a lot of demand from females wanting to join,” he said, adding that Iraq now has some 20 women’s boxing clubs.

More than 100 women boxers have competed in a December tournament, in all categories, he added.

But “like other sports (in Iraq), the discipline suffers from a lack of infrastructure, training facilities and equipment”.

In the past, Iraq had a proud tradition of women in sports, especially in the 1970s and
1980s.

Whether in basketball, volleyball or cycling, women’s teams regularly took part in regional tournaments.

But sanctions, decades of conflict and a hardening of conservative social values brought this era to a close, with only the autonomous Kurdistan region in northern Iraq largely spared.

There has been a timid reversal in recent years, with women taking up a range of sports, also including kickboxing.

For Hajer Ghazi, who at age 13 won a silver medal in December, boxing runs in the family.
Her father, a veteran professional boxer, encouraged his children to follow in his footsteps.

Both her sisters and older brother Ali are also boxers.

“Our father supports us more than the state does,” said Ali in their hometown of Amara in southwestern Iraq.

The father, Hassanein Ghazi, a 55-year-old truck driver who won several medals in his heyday, insisted: “Women have the right to play sports, it’s only normal.”

He recognised certain “sensitivities” remain, linked to traditional tribal values.

As an example, he pointed out that “when their coach wants them to run, he takes them to the outskirts of town”, away from too many onlookers.