Sauna, quantified: Maximising wellbeing in the age of AI

For centuries, sauna has been about feeling: how hot it feels, how long to stay, when to cool down and when to go back in.

But what happens when we start measuring it?

Wearables can tell us what happens to heart rate, stress and recovery. Sensors can measure the heat and humidity we are actually exposed to. Research is revealing more about the physiological effects of heat exposure. And AI gives us new ways to connect these signals and turn them into something useful.

Perttu Rönkkö, Head of Digital & Devices at Harvia, explores what happens when one of the world’s oldest wellbeing rituals meets quantified self, wearables, biohacking and AI.

The session looks at sauna from two directions: the environment around us and the response of our body. How could combining these two streams of data help us understand our individual heat exposure, and ultimately maximise the health and wellbeing benefits of sauna?

What if your sauna could eventually understand not only how hot the room is, but how the heat is affecting you?

Topics include:

• Sauna's health benefits in light of current research: what we know about heat exposure, frequency, duration and recovery.

• Combining sauna with wearable data: body metrics (heart rate, HRV, recovery) versus sauna metrics (temperature, humidity, heat exposure), and whether a sauna "dose" is even comparable across people and sessions.

• Data in service of a personalised sauna experience: how AI could turn measurement into personal recommendations, and where measurement starts to get in the way of a centuries-old ritual. 

The evening is designed for people interested in digital products, AI and IoT and also for anyone fascinated by health optimisation, wearables, quantified self and the future of personal wellbeing.