The Internet of Things and Sleeping Like an Athlete

How important is the right amount of sleep to an athlete?

“Sleep should be regarded as important as exercise and diet,” said Amy Bender, a University of Calgary researcher who helped the Canadian women’s eight crew team improve sleep and maximize performance in the run-up to this month’s summer games in Rio de Janeiro.

Christa Dietzen, captain of the U.S. women’s national volleyball team, has her own sleep doctor, naps for 45 minutes after practice and for two hours a day on weekends. She also drinks tart cherry juice before bed because it’s an anti-inflammatory and also helps with – you guessed it – sleep.

Of course, more sleep can help anyone, not just athletes. In this installment of “Things in the Internet of Things,” we look at some ways the Internet of Things (IoT) connects people to more and better sleep.

Smarter Mattress Cover = Easier Slumber

The Luna smart mattress cover slips on like a fitted sheet and combines sensors, Wi-Fi and a microphone to collect information about your bedtime and sleeping temperature, breathing and heart rates, as well as surrounding light and humidity. Eventually, it’s able to identify your sleep cycle and make recommendations on what will get you better rest. The cover also connects with your home’s thermostat and lights to set them at appropriate levels, while the cover itself enables you set different temperatures on either side of the bed. And not only does the cover help you sleep, it can get your connected coffee maker going when you wake up.

Your Future Sleeping Pill

Sense is a futuristic-looking white orb that monitors your sleep and the environment around you, gently wakes you up at just the right time, and gives you a detailed report and sleep suggestions in the morning. The Sense system’s orb sits on your nightstand and measures room temperature, humidity, ambient light, nighttime noise and particulates in the air. Combined with a “sleep pill” that fits under your pillow and tracks your motions during the night, Sense’s minute-by-minute sleep analysis gives you insight to make informed decisions about your sleep environment, sleep and wake times, etc. It can also analyze your sleep cycle and give you an easy nudge awake when you’re at the lightest phase of sleep within a half hour of your alarm time.

Better Sleep for Kids, More Rest for Parents

Of course it’s important for a growing child to get proper sleep. But it’s also true that if a child isn’t sleeping well, the parent probably isn’t, either. The SleepIQ Kids bed includes a mattress equipped with sensors that track various restfulness indicators, including movement and heart rate. If a child is sleeping poorly and gets out of bed, parents are alerted and can try to change the room environment or pre-bedtime routines to help their child settle down. The system also tracks those pre-bedtime routines and daily activities to see how they affect sleep quality, which SleepIQ scores on a scale from 1 to 100. Parent and child can then make adjustments to increase that score, for better rest for everyone.

At Equinix, we specialize in delivering the fast, direct and secure interconnection the IoT needs to help everyone rest easy. Read about Equinix’s IoT vision and check out some of the other cool ways the IoT is changing up our everyday lives in our “Things in the Internet of Things” series:

“The Internet of Things and the Deep Blue Sea”

“The Internet of Things and the World of Kitchen Gadgetry”

“The Internet of Things and Staying Healthy”

“The Internet of Things and Better BBQ”

“The Internet of Things and Sleeping Like an Athlete” (see above)