Rise in sleep gadgets

A new study from bed manufacturer, Sealy, into future sleep trends, has revealed a growing awareness into the negative impact of certain technologies in the bedroom as Australians undergo a ”˜tech detox’ in favour of emerging sleep-promoting gadgets.

The survey sought views of 1,000 Australians, and forms part of Sealy’s inaugural Future of Sleep report. The 12-week study was developed in conjunction with renowned international futurist Morris Miselowski, and aims to find out how Australians will be sleeping in 40 year’s time.

The study reveals an increasing interest in ”˜sleep gadgets’ as Australians turn to technology for a better night’s rest, with 18% using sleep-promoting smart phone apps, 16% using sleep-cycle monitoring alarm clocks, 8% using ambient noise devices and 5% using ”˜wake up’ UV lights and sleep tracking tools, respectively. And with the vast majority of people – 69% – claiming these techniques have helped significantly improve their overall sleep wellness, it appears they may be having a positive impact.

The study also found that the wealth of online information around sleep has led to an ”˜educated generation’, with 80% claiming they feel better informed about sleep wellness now, than they did five years ago.

Tech detox

Conversely, there also emerged a growing awareness into the gadgets that don’t promote healthy sleep habits. While using laptops (47%), mobile phones (46%) and watching TV (39%) were most common uses of technology in the bedroom, 30% said that they’d recently had a ”˜tech detox’ of these devices and stopped using them at night, with a further half planning to. The results speak for themselves, with 74% claiming their sleep has subsequently improved.

Miselowski’s predictions

Morris Miselowski’s predictions support this, and he argues that beds in 2055 will be the conductor of our orchestrated wellness, constantly monitoring our vital signs, checking our sleep patterns and adjusting our sleeping environment (lights, temperature, humidity, and atmospherics) to best suit our changing nightly needs.

He says: “Beds as a passive neutral object will disappear. Instead they will be replaced with extremely discrete and non-obtrusive technology-rich internal sensors that extend a mattress and base’s traditional offerings into the realms of a sleep sentinel. These will constantly guard, monitor, assess, record and share your health and wellness state with your trusted health and allied health professionals”.

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