Getting quality sleep at night is sometimes not easy. But sleep tracker rings, watches, and even the bed can provide clues about a good night’s sleep.
People spend a third of their lives sleeping or trying to sleep. Recently developed sleep monitoring technologies are trying to understand why people do not get enough sleep.
A company called Eight Sleep produces ‘smart’ mattresses.
Piezoelectric sensors detecting vibration are attached to the bed.
“For the most part, they work like a stethoscope, collecting all the vibrations your body emits throughout the night at different frequencies,” says Alexandra Zatarain.
An algorithm collects data on body temperature, breaths taken, sleeping positions, and heart rate. Customers learn how they slept through the smartphone app the next day.
Neuroscientist Louisa Nicola coaches brain performance at Eight Sleep. Nicola says sleep tracking tools give people valuable information about their sleep quality: “You’ve had 15 shakes and turns. We noticed that you woke up at night. You can really understand why your sleep is interrupted and what happened in those eight hours.”
For example, according to data from Eight Sleep, people who sleep in the same bed with their pets don’t sleep as well as they think. They sleep longer, but the quality of sleep decreases.
Alexandra Zatarain says, “The animal in the bed will likely have an impact because the animal also rotates during the night and we see the same in the partner. So when you share the bed with someone, people who go to bed together and those who get out of bed will sleep better.”
In the future, the company plans to add more sensors to its bearings. The goal is to identify changes in the human body beyond sleep. Because this information is thought to indicate potential health problems.