Smart Devices that Want to Help Us Sleep Better

Sleep improvement is a big market. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than one-quarter of the U.S. population report occasionally not getting enough sleep, while nearly 10% experience chronic insomnia. The CDC even called insufficient sleep a public health epidemic.

Insufficient sleep is associated with a number of chronic diseases and conditions, such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity and depression, which threaten the nation’s health. Moreover, insufficient sleep is also responsible for motor vehicle and machinery-related crashes, causing substantial injury and disability each year.

Mobile solution

Mobile devices including smartphones, tablets, wrist-worn wearables and novel products we’ll talk about in this report come to the rescue. The products listed here are all made to help people get sufficient sleep, which CDC says is not a luxury but a necessity that should be thought of as a “vital sign” of good health.

Beyond wrist-worn devices

Pretty much any modern wrist-worn device, excluding Apple Watch (for the moment), supports sleep tracking. Whether we’re talking about a wearable made by Jawbone, Fitbit, Android Wear, Samsung or any other mobile-connected device, usually it can keep up with one’s sleep patterns. However, because of its location (on the wrist), these products don’t provide the full picture. In the next few pages we are looking at devices made specifically to tackle sleep and sleeping disorders by literally “going to bed with you.”

The report also discusses business models; it is available as part of mHealth Spot’s Premium membership.