Top Sleep Technology Trends For 2020

The annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas brings together people who thrive on the business of consumer technologies.

First staged in 1967, CES is the proving ground for the new innovations that will shape the tech world over the coming year.

More than 4,400 companies exhibited at CES 2020 in early January, attracting over 175,000 people from around the world to the four-day event.

One of the biggest growth areas for CES in recent years has undoubtedly been sleep technology, with the growing phenomenon getting its own sector on the massive show floor this year.

The area was full of new tech ideas designed to help people get a better night’s sleep and ultimately improve their quality of life. Read on as we look at the some of the latest sleep tech trends.

URGOnight Sleep Training Headband

French innovators URGOtech made waves at CES 2020 as they revealed the final features of a product that people can use to train their brains to sleep better.

The URGOnight consists of an electroencephalography (EEG) headband and smartphone app that trains the brain to produce the brainwaves clinically associated with sleep.

The device is worn during the day and uses technology that URGOtech says has been clinically proven to help people to fall asleep 40% faster and cut night-time interruptions by half.

The system is designed to be used for 20 minutes a day, three days a week, and contains two electrodes that detect brain activity.

URGOtech founder, Guirec Le Lous, believes the product has the potential to significantly improve sleep for people.

“Just as you can train your body to run faster, jump higher, swim further or become more flexible, clinical studies have shown neurofeedback therapy can help people learn how to improve the quality of their sleep,” he said.

“The technology has been used in clinical sleep centres around the world for decades and now, with URGOnight, we are making it more fun and accessible and conveniently usable in the comfort of the home.”

Climate360 Smart Bed

Mattress technology has progressed a long way over the past few years and things were taken up another notch at CES 2020.

US bed specialists, Sleep Number, unveiled their next smart bed that they believe will help to alleviate sleep disorders and help to provide quality sleep.

The new Climate360 is the first-ever bed that uses advanced temperature technology to create a personalised and responsive microclimate that has automatic firmness adjustability.

Sleep Number have won numerous awards on onlinemattressreview.com and other sleep tech websites, all of which benefit from extensive research into understanding the science of sleep.

The company’s President and CEO, Shelly Ibach, says the Climate360 will help to address the global sleep crisis that affects millions of people.

“With more than 700 million sleep sessions of data and research, our digital health platform is linking quality sleep to individualized wellness, and our 360 smart beds are delivering proven higher quality sleep,” she said.

“As a purpose-driven company, we hold ourselves accountable for moving society forward through meaningful health and wellness benefits. The newest innovations we’re unveiling at CES advance sleep health, making it achievable for those who suffer from sleep deprivation.”

Withings ScanWatch

Withings used CES 2020 to unveil ScanWatch, the world’s first clinically validated hybrid smartwatch to detect both risk of arrhythmia (AFib) and sleep apnea.

Developed by cardiologists and sleep experts, it is the French firm’s most medically advanced wearable to date, helping to identify cardiovascular and sleep issues early.

ScanWatch monitors a person’s heart rate and alerts them if an irregular heartbeat is detected. It also checks for sleep apnea using a SpO2 sensor and provides reports on each condition via an app.

The company is currently awaiting approval for the ScanWatch from certification organisations in Europe and North America, but expects to launch the product during the second quarter of 2020.

“ScanWatch is our most ambitious medical tracker and purposely designed to detect the early presence of AFib and sleep apnea – two related issues that are extremely common yet largely undiagnosed, despite their known impact on multiple health conditions,” said Mathieu Letombe, CEO of Withings.

“Worn throughout the day and night, ScanWatch provides an early warning system, collecting and sharing critical health data with users and their physicians.”

Embr Wave Bracelet

Numerous studies have shown that being too hot or too cold can have a negative impact on the quality of sleep.

Embr Labs have sought to address this issue by launching the Wave – an intelligent bracelet that aims to warm or cool the body by five degrees by applying the appropriate sensations to the inner wrist.

The Wave doesn’t change your body temperature as such, but it uses the body’s thermoreceptors to change how warm or cool you feel.

These send signals to your brain whenever a difference between environmental temperature is detected and can help to give you a better night’s sleep.

Embr’s Chief Operating Officer, Sam Shames, believes the product is capable of making a huge splash in the sleep tech industry in 2020.

“Our technology is a thermoelectric module that you fasten to the inside or your wrist, a particularly sensitive area of our bodies densely packed with thermoreceptors,” he said.

“We use a semi-conductor material that uses the flow of electricity to alter the temperature of that material up or down. The experience is very similar to a shower dial where you can control how hot or cold the shower is.