7 wacky sleep-hacking gadgets to help you get some shut-eye
By Caitlin McGarry, Tech Hive, 9 January 2015.
By Caitlin McGarry, Tech Hive, 9 January 2015.
Start-ups are tackling the science of sleep at this year’s Consumer Electronic Show.
Tech takes on sleep
Activity trackers can tell you how much sleep you’re getting, but every insomniac knows just how little rest they get. A new crop of devices that can help you sleep longer and improve the quality of your REM cycles debuted at this year’s CES, and not all of the new gadgets have to be strapped to your wrists.
1. Zensorium Being
There were plenty of wearables on the show floor this year, and Zensorium showed off its latest entry: Being, a wrist-worn activity tracker that maps your sleep. The device measures your sleep cycles, and uses a heart rate monitor and accelerometer to analyze the quality of your sleeping habits. The heart rate monitor can sense when you’re stressed - Zensorium claims the wearable can actually tell good stress from bad and will guide you through relaxation exercises to help you sleep better. Being ships in April but is available to pre-order now for US$169.15.
2. Sleepace RestOn
Sleep-tracking wearables are becoming more and more common, but RestOn is a whole new kind of sleep monitor - a gadget that stays in your bed. The band fits under your bed sheet and snaps into place with a magnetic lid. When you climb into bed, RestOn’s sensors measure all the standard sleep metrics: time, sleep cycles, heart rate, and movement. Using Bluetooth, RestOn sends that data to the Sleepace app for analysis and advice on how to get a good night’s rest. The app even scores each night’s sleep and lets you set goals for improvement, like a fitness app. A family-sharing feature lets your relatives see how well (or poorly) you sleep, so if you’re super grumpy after a night of tossing and turning, they’ll know why. The device starts shipping to its early Indiegogo backers next month.
3. Sevenhugs hugOne
Most of us are concerned about our own sleeping habits, but Sevenhugs has a new system that lets you keep track of your entire family’s sleep patterns. The Sevenhugs hugOne comes with a hub for your living room and small sensors that you tuck under your mattress covers.
The sensors monitor your movement for sleep analysis with the Sevenhugs app, and the hugOne hub connects with your smart thermostat and connected light bulbs to keep your house at an optimal temperature and wake you up in the morning. The hub even glows when it senses that your kids have woken up and are moving around. If you want a sleep system for the whole family that works with the smart home gadgets you already own, the hugOne kit is available to pre-order for US$139 and is expected to ship this spring.
4. MonBaby
When you have kids, your anxiety levels skyrocket. Are they sleeping enough? Are they breathing? To soothe a parent’s worst fears, MonBaby is a new smart monitor that clips onto a piece clothing and monitors a baby’s breathing, movement, and sleep position. Alerts are sent to your smartphone using the MonBaby app for iOS and Android, which receives information from the button-like wearable five times per second. The US$169 monitor starts shipping this month.
5. Luna
A comfortable mattress goes a long way toward helping you sleep better, and Luna’s new WiFi-connected mattress cover takes that comfort to the next level. With a built-in heating pad and Nest integration, Luna works to keep your bed and your room cooled to the optimal sleep temperature.
A companion app for iOS and Android analyzes the sleep data from your mattress cover, which has temperature and light sensors, a force sensor to monitor heart rate and breathing, and an accelerometer to track the phases of sleep. The Luna app can also sync up with your fitness tracker of choice to offer a glimpse at how your daily activity affects your sleep quality. Luna isn’t available just yet, but you can sign up for a waiting list to be notified when it launches.
6. Holi SleepCompanion
Connected LED lights are nothing new, but Holi’s SleepCompanion smart lightbulb guides you through a night of sleep with 20 various light sources that help your body fall asleep and wake on its own (no sleeping aids required). The bulb replaces the one in the lamp on your nightstand, so all you have to do is set an alarm and let the light lull you to sleep. The SleepCompanion app analyzes your sleeping habits and offers you tips on ways to fall asleep and wake up naturally. The US$99 light bulb itself is integrated with Jawbone UP, Fitbit, and Withings activity trackers, plus it’s compatible with Healthkit and Google Fit.
7. SleepIQ kids bed
A lot of the smart sleep devices we saw at CES this year are new products from fledgling companies that might not make it. Sleep Number is a well-known, popular brand already beloved for its personalized mattresses, and the company hit the show floor with a new smart bed just for kids.
The SleepIQ for children doesn’t need any extra accessories: Sensors are baked in to detect a kid’s sleep cycle and send that information to a parent’s smartphone. The bed includes a variety of cool features like under-bed lighting when your kid stumbles out of bed in the middle of the night, and a “monster detector” to reassure little ones. The SleepIQ kids’ bed has a waitlist for interested buyers but doesn’t hit Sleep Number stores until later this year. A rep said the bed will cost less than US$1000.
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