Here's a 21st century version of counting sheep. LightSleeper works by projecting a light onto the ceiling in a controlled, circular motion. Following it with your eyes encourages the mind to relax and, according to the manufacturer, helps you fall into a good night's sleep.

It switches off automatically after 30 minutes and can be reactivated easily by tapping it gently. For the thousands of people who want a self-help solution, who can't or don't want to take prescribed drugs, LightSleeper's arrival into the consumer electronics market will be welcome news.

According to Lightsleeper's research nearly two thirds of us (64%) have a bad night's sleep at least once a week, with nearly one in five having sleep problems every night of the week.

Developed by Quincom, LightSleeper has been designed and manufactured in the UK. It is the brainchild of Kate Evans, Quincom's Design Manager, who came up with the concept as a design student when she suffered from insomnia.

"I had terrible problems sleeping. My final year project was to design a solution to a problem suffered within a 24 hour society. I naturally chose to look into sleeping habits. I learned that the way the eyes track a book when reading can be soothing but that reading itself stimulates the mind. I then looked for a solution that made use of the relaxing eye movement that reading induces, but without the mind whirring."