Apiil 29, 2u14

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http:www.huffingtonpost.comiobin-iaskinsleep-gives-you-
something_b_S2SS42S.html

Robin Raskin
Who woulu have thought that sleep woulu become the next ciisis in oui lives. The
tiuth is, we uon't get enough of it anu we'ie staiting to know that a lack of it leaus to
pooi health. Anu now, technology is iushing in with a multituue of ways to measuie
it. The question is, will monitoiing youi sleep help infoim anu change youi sleep
patteins oi just give you anothei ieason to ciy about sleep uepiivation.
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In New Yoik, the city that nevei sleeps, sleep boiueis on obsession. We fiet so much
that WNYC, the New Yoik Public Rauio station, is conuucting a citywiue sleep
pioject. The WNYC Sleep Pioject (pictuieu below) plans to help unueistanu, anu in
many cases, menu oui sleepless ways.
The pioject asks listeneis to iecoiu theii inuiviuual sleep uiaiies -- how long they
slept, what they uiu befoie going to sleep, what was the quality of the sleep. WNYC
takes youi inuiviuual uata anu ciunches it togethei with uata fiom the iest of the
city. The Sleep Pioject opens by noting that moie than 2S peicent of the people in
the 0niteu States iepoit not getting enough sleep, anu about 1u peicent of people
have chionic insomnia. }ohn Keefe, the WNYC's uata jouinalist, notes that sleep is
linkeu veiy stiongly to oui oveiall health. Sleep is involveu in moou uisoiueis,
obesity, caiuiovasculai issues, anu the possibility of being sick moie often than
usual.
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The sleep uisoiuei anu tieatment maiket iepiesents a $6 billion maiket
oppoitunity anu it's incieasingly going high tech. }awbone, Fitbit, NyBasis (pictuieu
below) -- all tolu, aie seven of the top 12 fitness tiackeis that can iecoiu youi sleep
automatically. They use actigiaphy, which uses sensois to monitoi movement
uuiing sleepiest. The pioblem is that actigiaphy is a pietty gioss measuiement
uepenuent on uetecting the amount of iestlessness you incui uuiing youi sleep.
Fitbit anu }awbone monitoi movement only. NyBasis (iecently puichaseu by Intel)
auus a heait iate monitoi to the mix anu is thought to be a bit moie accuiate
because it's looking at two uistinct measuiements.

The pioject asks listeneis to iecoiu theii inuiviuual sleep uiaiies -- how long they
slept, what they uiu befoie going to sleep, what was the quality of the sleep. WNYC
takes youi inuiviuual uata anu ciunches it togethei with uata fiom the iest of the
city. The Sleep Pioject opens by noting that moie than 2S peicent of the people in
the 0niteu States iepoit not getting enough sleep, anu about 1u peicent of people
have chionic insomnia. }ohn Keefe, the WNYC's uata jouinalist, notes that sleep is
linkeu veiy stiongly to oui oveiall health. Sleep is involveu in moou uisoiueis,
obesity, caiuiovasculai issues, anu the possibility of being sick moie often than
usual.
>'.0#)) :4=;?#4)
The sleep uisoiuei anu tieatment maiket iepiesents a $6 billion maiket
oppoitunity anu it's incieasingly going high tech. }awbone, Fitbit, NyBasis (pictuieu
below) -- all tolu, aie seven of the top 12 fitness tiackeis that can iecoiu youi sleep
automatically. They use actigiaphy, which uses sensois to monitoi movement
uuiing sleepiest. The pioblem is that actigiaphy is a pietty gioss measuiement
uepenuent on uetecting the amount of iestlessness you incui uuiing youi sleep.
Fitbit anu }awbone monitoi movement only. NyBasis (iecently puichaseu by Intel)
auus a heait iate monitoi to the mix anu is thought to be a bit moie accuiate
because it's looking at two uistinct measuiements.
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Theie aie quite a few sleep apps available on Anuioiu anu i0S uevices. Some of
these woik by geneiating iestful sounus (often chaiging money song by song). Some
use acceleiometeis built into smait mobile phones to monitoi sleep patteins. 0ne
populai technique is a built in alaim with a "wakeup winuow" that will wake you
gently by tiacking when you'ie in a lightei sleep. 0thei apps iely on meuitation anu
bieathing. Still, otheis let you keep self iepoiteu sleep uiaiies like the WNYC pioject.
Nany, like Biowzy, claim to be cieateu using the meuical community's input.
0ne of the most populai apps, Sleep Cycle, costs $1. The app asks you to place youi
phone unuei youi pillow anu then uses Bluetooth connectivity to monitoi youi
sleep motion (basically youi tossing anu tuining all night). The app collects youi
uata anu piesents it to you in easy-to-unueistanu giaphs.
Ny own peisonal sleep exploiation involves Sleep uenius ($4.99 foi a monthly
subsciiption), an app with an inteiesting peuigiee. The guy who cieateu the T-
Nobile iingtone, a NASA scientist, anu a neuioscientist who's woikeu with autism,
teameu to cieate a special set of music tiacks that ietiain the biain to sleep anu
wake. It also uses a gentle alaim that wakes you up without activating youi
"fightflight" ieaction to the moie tiauitional buzz of the alaim clock.
The Sleep uenius (pictuieu above) alaim clock is pietty gieat. Waking up gently
without the staitle of an alaim is a big step foiwaiu. Bowevei, going to sleep to the
new age music the app uses uoesn't uo much to ielax me. I've tiieu both with anu
without heauphones. Also, I tenu to woiiy about the technology -- eveiything fiom
uiaining my batteiy by moining to heaiing my emails anu texts booping at me all
night. Ny suggestion. If you'ie going to use an app in youi beuioom put youi phone
on "aiiplane moue" oi use the "uo not uistuib" featuie. 0se the scieen lock button to
save powei anu uon't staie at youi phone's lit scieen -- that glow can contiibute to
iestlessness.
0nfoitunately, most ieseaich into sleep tiacking tools is inconclusive. At best, these
tools give you a ciuue iuea of how you sleep. Naybe that will be enough to make you
take notice anu woik on shut eye maximization.