Scan for monsters with smartphone app
LAS VEGAS – Sleep Number’s new Sleep IQ Kids, demoed at the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show, uses “Internet of Things” technology to make bedtime a family affair.
The child-size mattresses, equipped with full body sensors capable of recording heart rate, movement and other indicators of restfulness – or lack thereof – allows users to track their childs’ sleep cycle.
Sleep IQ is a score between one and 100 that equates to how well a person slept. The data is tracked over time by a software application.
Pete Bils of Sleep Number explained that now parents can use IoT to remotely monitor their children.
“We wanted to transform a family’s bedtime,” he told RCR Wireless News. “We know kids latch on and develop routines faster and stronger and longer lasting when things are done as a family.”
Charlie and the IoT
He gave the example of young Charlie.
“When it comes to learning sleep routines,” Bils said, “he is very motivated by the reward system. Mom and dad sat down with him and developed a bedtime routine.”
The routine includes putting on pajamas, brushing teeth, reading stories and making it to bed by 7:45 p.m. All of those benchmarks are tracked through the Sleep IQ Kids app and parents can reward kids with stars.
Charlie’s parents also monitor a daughter who slept poorly for two of eight hours and was even out of bed for 11 minutes.
“Her parents knew that because an alert was sent to their phone while they were in bed that she was sleeping restlessly and she got out of bed,” he said.
The daughter can input activities – homework, sporting events, school exams – and analyze how her sleep is affected.
“Over time, she’s going to be able to figure how these things, plus her texting at night, affects her sleep.”
Then there’s the monsters.
When the common childhood fear materializes, mom and dad can shore the situation up with the app.
“Sleep IQ Kids has a monster detector,” Bils said. “You can run your app underneath the bed, find the monster and, in front of your child, get rid of it.”
For more from CES 2015, visit www.rcrwireless.com and the RCR Wireless News YouTube page.
