Brown grads’ invention eases people out of sleep
If it takes a healthy dose of coffee to get you fully functional in the morning, a group of Brown University graduates is working on a device that could eliminate morning grogginess.
Seifert Systems Invests in Energy Efficiency to Strengthen Operations
For manufacturers, energy is more than just another operating expense. It plays a critical role…
Learn More
Axon Sleep Laboratories of Providence is developing a headband that can monitor your sleep patterns by tracking brain waves through special sensors. The device can then communicate wirelessly with an alarm clock and wake the user out of a lighter stage of sleep.
SleepSmart would be worn overnight. And instead of waking the wearer up at a specific time – say around 7 a.m. – the device would monitor your brain waves and wake you up during a lighter stage of sleep, when you’re closer to consciousness.
“And that’s much better than being jolted out of a sound sleep,” said Axon President Eric Shashoua.
The concept was born from the weary consciousness of undergraduates.
“The idea came from being a bunch of sleep-deprived students,” Shashoua said. “We all had pretty demanding schedules. SleepSmart reacts to (the user) being sleep-deprived.”
The group had some knowledge of the mechanics of sleep cycles.
“So we thought: Why can’t you wake someone up out of a better stage of sleep?” Shashoua said.
Axon has produced a rough prototype of the headband and accompanying alarm clock. The headband works a little like a tiny electroencephalogram, or EEG, monitor. It has three sensors and a small microcomputer built into it. The microcomputer tracks users’ sleep patterns as they progress through light, deep and REM (rapid eye movement) sleep cycles.
“It’s like sleeping with a sweatband on your head,” Shashoua said. Axon signed with Waltham, Mass.-based design firm Herbst Lazar Bell for the industrial design of SleepSmart.
The goal, Shashoua said is to help eliminate morning grogginess. The level of grogginess people feel depends on how much sleep they’ve had over the previous few nights and how much alcohol or caffine they’ve ingested, Shashoua said.
Since SleepSmart actively monitors the user’s sleep patterns through the night, there’s a 20- to 30-minute window during which they are awakened.
“On average, it wakes you up 10 to 15 minutes before your desired wake time,” Shashoua said. But before you decry losing those precious minutes of sleep, consider that waking up when the headband thinks it’s best means you could be much more perky and alert than if you relied on a normal alarm clock, he added.
Shashoua and his team of seven people have considered reams of sleep research during their product development. There’s a large body of research that supports the theory that waking from a light stage of sleep is better for you, he said. And yes, people at Axon have tried it.
“We’ve been sleeping with it on for test purposes,” Shashoua said.
SleepSmart should be available commercially within the next year. It will be primarily marketed to “anyone who has trouble waking up in the morning,” Shashoua said – “high-performing individuals who have a responsibility to other people – like surgeons or pilots.”
But before it hits store shelves, SleepSmart will be tested at a sleep clinic in Rhode Island.
While Axon plans to do more market testing, Shashoua said he envisions SleepSmart to be available at stores like the Sharper Image or Brookstone for about $199.
Shashoua, who received his bachelor’s degree in computer science in December, runs Axon with five current or graduated Brown students. Another is finishing her undergraduate work at Bryant University.
The company was one of three finalists in a 2004 business plan contest at Brown. They got their first grant, $18,000, from the National Collegiate Inventors & Innovators Alliance, then more money from the Slater Center for Design and Manufacturing. To date, they’ve raised more than $300,000 in the form of grants and private investments.
“The bulk of funding comes from private angel investors,” Shashoua said. They’re in the middle of another round of funding.
Response to SleepSmart has been overwhelming, Shashoua said. When they attend conferences and present their products, people seem excited about the concept, he said. Axon’s Web site – www.axonlabs.com – has shown increased activity as well.
