If you’re tired of paying the price for a bad night’s sleep, there’s hope. A large and growing industry is trying to solve your problem and make sure you no longer have to count sheep. All you need is a smartphone, an open mind – and about $100 bucks.
The National Sleep Foundation says that anywhere from 50 million to 70 million Americans suffer from sleep disorders at some point in their lives, affecting not just their day-to-day functioning but also their health and longevity. While drugs have often been the fix of choice for many people with sleep problems like insomnia, increasingly the industry is offering tech-based sleep-monitoring products for consumers.
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Interest in such products is strong: The European and U.S. market for sleep disorder diagnostic devices is estimated to reach $125.8 million in revenue in 2017, up from $95.6 million last year, according to Frost & Sullivan, a research firm.
One of the latest sleep-tracking devices is Sense, an IOS-compatible system that tracks your sleep behavior, monitors the environment of your bedroom, including noise and light, and finds the most appropriate time to wake you up based on your personal sleep cycle. The primary device is a “polycarbonate orb” that collects your personal data, MacRumors reports.
When you wake up, Sense provides you with a full report of your nighttime sleep behavior via your smartphone and a mobile app. It includes how well you slept and how much disruption came from external sources, whether it was a car alarm or your partner’s snoring.
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Sense also comes with a small device that you clip onto your pillow to track your nighttime sleep habits. The larger device sits on your nightstand.
Judging simply by its Kickstarter campaign, the product – which doesn’t ship until November – is already in big demand. As of Monday, it had raised $1.09 million, largely surpassing its $100,000 goal with still 24 days to go. Sense is available through the Kickstarter website for $99 (regular pre-orders will cost $129 afterward).
Sense is not the only sleep monitoring device out there. Here are three other popular competitors:
- Beddit is a sensor you attach to your bed to track your sleep quality, heart rate and breathing. An app also coaches you on how to improve your sleep. The device sells for $149.
- SleepRate tracks your sleep with a heart rate sensor and an app and gives you a sleep improvement plan based on the findings. You can buy this device for $99.
- Withings Aura comes with a bedside device that records your sleep environment and provides specific light and sound programs to improve your sleep, a sleep sensor that you slip under your mattress to monitor your sleep and an app to visualize your sleep cycles. The item will be released later this summer and costs nearly $300.
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