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TECHNOLOGY Tuesday 11 July 2017
Zzzzzz: Sleep gadgets adjust if you’re restless _ or snoring

By ANNE D’INNOCENZIO attached to a person’s
AP Retail Writer bedsheet, recently an-
NEW YORK (AP) — Pillows nounced it was shutting
that track your snoozing down amid reports the de-
patterns? A bed that ad- vice didn’t correctly track
justs based on how much sleep patterns.
you twist and turn? Com- Still, Kushida believes the
panies are adding more consumer products are
technology into their prod- getting better and will be
ucts, hoping to lure custom- able to accurately moni-
ers craving a better night’s tor and solve sleep issues in
sleep. the next five to 10 years.
Some specialized busi- Separate from gadgets,
nesses are making gadgets some stores are highlight-
that promise to measure ing sounds and smells they
and improve the quality of say can help people sleep
slumber, while mass-market better. Longtime insomni-
retailers like Best Buy are of- ac favorite HSN Inc. offers
fering simpler ideas like the a $299 Nightingale Sleep
effect different lighting can System that masks indoor
have on falling sleep. But and outdoor noises. Best
with ever-growing options, Buy has a Philips Lighting’s
people may find items that In this Friday, July 7, 2017, photo, Sleep Number store manager Lee Pulliam demonstrates how the system that works with de-
are getting more sophisti- company’s sleep technology tracks your sleeping patterns, in addition to the other features of the vices like Nest and Amazon
cated — but may still not Sleep Number 360 Smart Bed, including a foot warming element, adjustable side comfort, head Alexa to let people choose
be accurate. and foot raising capability and an analysis of how well a person slept. the colors and brightness
The interest in sleep has of lights and program them
intensified. The number of says Frank Ribitch, a self- ment — and even snoring. center’s own overnight to turn off at certain times
sleep centers accredited described gadget junkie “Previously, it was about sleep studies, which use or respond to the sun.
by the American Academy from Martinez, California, the sleeping pill and peo- measures such as heart And a company called
of Sleep Medicine nearly who tracks his sleep with ple didn’t want to talk rate and brain wave activ- Sensorwake is launching a
tripled from 2000 to 2015, apps connected to a Sleep about sleep apnea,” Lasse ity to determine the length product in the U.S. that re-
the group says. People are Number bed and the Zeeq Leppäkorpi, co-founder and the stages of sleep. leases smells like fresh linen
more likely to brag about pillow. Insufficient sleep is a and now former CEO of Kushida’s conclusion? it says can help you sleep
how much they spent for public health concern, fed- Beddit, said before Apple “Consumer wearable de- better.
a mattress than on their eral officials say, with more bought the company. vices are not there in ac- If nothing worked and
clothes, says Marian Sal- than one-third of American “Snoring is embarrassing. curately detecting the you’ve had a fitful night,
zman, CEO of Havas PR adults not getting enough But this has been untapped stages of sleep,” he said. you can at least be woken
North America. on a regular basis. That can opportunity.”Apple, whose The problem: They focus up more gently. The same
“Sleep is the new status contribute to problems like own Apple Watch tracks on motion, which can be company makes a $99 ol-
symbol,” she says. obesity and diabetes. And activity and offers sleep- deceptive since a per- factory alarm clock, with
It’s a big business. One of a study published by the tracking experiences son could be lying in bed scent options that include
the more expensive prod- Rand Corp. put the finan- through third-party apps, awake. a strong espresso. But if you
ucts is Sleep Number’s 360 cial loss to U.S. companies declined to talk about the In fact, San Francisco- let it go for three minutes
Smart Bed, which runs from at up to $411 billion a year. future of Beddit. Leppakor- based startup Hello, the without shutting it off or hit-
$3,449 to $4,999. It makes Finding solutions could pi noted before the acqui- maker of a product aimed ting snooze, it’ll start mak-
adjustments based on how be a lucrative enterprise. sition that Beddit had been at tracking sleep via a clip ing noise — good if you
restless people are while Earlier this year Apple Inc. working with sleep labs like
they’re sleeping. The Zeeq bought Finland-based Bed- the MIT Lab, which used
pillow, which sells for $299 dit, which was making an the devices to collect data Apple to open
and is from bedding brand app and sleep monitor- on patients.
REM-Fit, monitors snoring ing device that’s placed At the Stanford Sleep Medi-
and can gently vibrate to under the sheet on top of cine Center, neurologist new data center
nudge someone into a dif- the mattress. The $150 sen- and medical director Clete
ferent sleep position. sor begins tracking when a A. Kushida tests new ther-
apies and medications.
“I’m willing to spend more person lies down, and ana- Over the past two years, in Denmark
on sleep technology be- lyzes data such as the por-
cause it will hopefully help tion of time someone is in the analysis has expanded
me fall asleep quicker, stay bed asleep before waking to wearable devices. The HELSINKI (AP) — Denmark The ministry said Monday
asleep longer and be more up. It also monitors heart scientists assess how well says that Apple has decid- that with the latest invest-
rested when I wake up,” rate, temperature, move- the devices match the ed to build a data center ments from Apple, Face-
in the southwestern town book and Google’s pur-
Aabenraa, near Viborg, chase of a land plot, the
where it has another one Scandinavian country is
already under construc- moving to becoming a
tion. The Danish Foreign major site for the world’s
Ministry says that both will biggest tech players. It is
use only renewable en- also among the top three
ergy as a power source countries in terms of envi-
and “thereby contribute to ronmental technologies,
Denmark achieving its re- according to a Green-
newable energy goals.” peace report this year.q