Apple today received FCC approval for a nondescript "sleep monitor" in the United States. While much of the application is hidden due to a standard confidentiality agreement, one document reveals that the sleep monitor is "designed by Beddit in California" and has an all-new model number 3.5.
Simply put, this could end up being an all-new Beddit 3.5 sleep monitor that Apple will eventually release, but no further details are available. It could also be a modified version of the existing Beddit 3 sleep monitor.
Apple acquired Beddit, a company that develops health-related hardware, in May 2017 and continues to sell the Beddit 3 sleep monitor for $149.95 on its online store. The thin, flexible sensor is placed under the sheet on top of the mattress and automatically begins tracking sleep-related data when you lie down.
The data collected and analyzed includes sleep time and efficiency, heart rate, respiration, temperature, movement, snoring, room temperature, and room humidity. The data can be viewed in the Beddit app on iPhone and iPad.
Beddit technology is based upon a scientific principle known as ballistocardiography or BCG, described as an unobtrusive, non-invasive technique for measuring the mechanical activity of the heart, lungs, and other body functions:
Each time the heart beats, the acceleration of blood through the circulatory system generates a mechanical impulse that can be measured and analyzed. Throughout the night, Beddit tracks each individual heart beat and respiration cycle. Beddit's advanced analysis and machine learning algorithms adapt differently to each body type and provide detailed sleep data.
There has been hope that Apple's acquisition of Beddit could lay the foundation for first-party sleep monitoring on the Apple Watch, but this FCC application does not appear to be related to the Apple Watch.
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At the very-real risk of going full "Get off my lawn", what exactly is the purpose of this? I know when I don't sleep well. I know when I snore. I know when I can't breathe. I know when I'm too hot.
Are you sure? :p
I don't necessarily disagree, but there are two useful features: detecting when is a good time to wake you up (in a "shallow" part of the sleep cycle) and detecting signs of sleep disorder that you may not be aware of.
At the very-real risk of going full "Get off my lawn", what exactly is the purpose of this? I know when I don't sleep well. I know when I snore. I know when I can't breathe. I know when I'm too hot.
This reminds me of the "Smart Cups" that connect to your phone to tell you how much water you have drank.
I'm open for any explanations or real use-cases members want to share. Not trying to be snarky :)
Forget the analysis data for a second. Let’s look at the real quality of sleep improvements that can be achieved with a device like this.
Waking up to an alarm is like a lottery. If it rings just as you’ve come out of a REM cycle, you’ll wake up feeling rested and will start the day off on the right foot. But,if the alarm wakes you while in the middle of a sleep cycle, while you’re in deep sleep, you’re going to wake up startled and will feel groggy while you stumble out of bed and go through your morning routine. The odds of the latter happening are much higher rhan your alarm waking you up at the perfect time.
What if your alarm could wake you up at the perfect time every single morning? A sleep analyzer like this can do exactly that. It knows when you’re exiting a REM cycle so it can delay or ring your alarm early by a few minutes to wake you at just the right time. That alone justifies this device. The analytics are a bonus that can help you to make adjustments in your sleep environment.
At the very-real risk of going full "Get off my lawn", what exactly is the purpose of this? I know when I don't sleep well. I know when I snore. I know when I can't breathe. I know when I'm too hot.
This reminds me of the "Smart Cups" that connect to your phone to tell you how much water you have drank.
I'm open for any explanations or real use-cases members want to share. Not trying to be snarky :)
Part of what I find appealing about these kinds of tools is the empirical nature enables me to check my subjective. So, for example, when I was getting an average of 6 hrs sleep for months after a newborn human child came to live with me, I got so used to sleep deprivation that I could honestly no longer remember what being fully rested was like. In my case, the baby's pediatrician told me that I was behaving like a sleep deprived person and I was actually surprised.
A tool that gives quantifiable feedback may help many people were in my boat but don't have a doctor to tell them that their subjective experience has actually been calibrated at sub-optimal levels, and then, depending on the ML/AI could essentially prescribe custom sleep adjustments, and then actually track whether those adjustments have hit target goals.
At the very-real risk of going full "Get off my lawn", what exactly is the purpose of this? I know when I don't sleep well. I know when I snore. I know when I can't breathe. I know when I'm too hot.
This reminds me of the "Smart Cups" that connect to your phone to tell you how much water you have drank.
I'm open for any explanations or real use-cases members want to share. Not trying to be snarky :)
The problem with with sleep disorders like Sleep Apnea is that they gradually increase in severity over time. I was aware of being tired most of the time, but didn’t know anything about sleep disorders and thought it was a temporary problem. Falling asleep briefly during my morning commute caused me to contact my doctor and a sleep study confirmed severe sleep apnea.
I’ve used the Beddit for two years and it provides far more sleep quality info than anything else. I’ve never needed a replacement, but I check it each night to make sure it hasn’t moved or the cable isn’t snagged. I highly recommend it.
I guess I could use the data from this device to prove to my wife that I sleep better when it's colder, but the odds of her agreeing to lower the thermostat are astronomical.
