A good night’s sleep makes everything better. But getting the recommended seven to eight hours of solid, restful sleep on a regular basis seems almost impossible these days.
According to one recent study, the average person has 10 sleepless nights a month. That means most of us spend about a third of our lives sleepwalking, like some blurry-eyed zombie. On paper, that number seems ridiculously high. But anecdotally, it gels.
I was tired. Our friends are tired. None of us are getting enough sleep anymore. We lose consciousness forever, and when we wake up, our minds are racing and we can’t go back to sleep. Let’s talk about it. we are worried about it. It keeps us up at night.
Why do we want to sleep more?
Sleep conditions, or lack of sleep, are well documented. Adults between the ages of 18 and 60 are required to get 7 to 8 hours of sleep per night. Young and old alike need more.
A new Harvard Medical School study is one of the most comprehensive sleep studies ever conducted on more than 1 million people over 11 years, and finds that a persistent lack of quality sleep can shorten your lifespan. It shows that it could be years shorter.
Conversely, this study also shows that these five sleep hygiene habits can add years to your life. In men it increases lifespan by 5 years, and in women it increases by almost 2.5 years.
Can technology improve sleep?
I’ve struggled with sleep for most of my life. Stress, hormones, lack of work-life balance, and too many gadgets too close to bedtime all make the situation worse.
Ironically, I’ve tested hundreds of devices and apps that promise to help, from a $7,000 mattress that literally rocks you to sleep to a free podcast that puts you into a near-coma-like sleep. Some work really well.
Here we introduce you to the latest technology tools and trends aimed at improving your sleep habits. .
What does Oura Ring do?
At the end of summer, I covered several other popular products, including the Oura ring, which I call the “finger sleep lab,” and apps like Calm, Headspace, and intelligent alarm Hatch Restore ($130). While these are all still great options, let’s take a look at some of the newer sleep technology companies in this space.
Amazon Halo Rise ($140)
Halo Rise is a bedside sleep tracker and smart alarm that silently activates from your nightstand. It uses radar technology to study your movement and breathing patterns to assess your sleep. A wake-up light simulates sunrise, and a smart alarm senses your ideal sleep stage so you wake up feeling rested.
I know what you’re thinking… an Amazon device… in my bedroom? Spooky. But the company said it was designed with privacy in mind, has no microphone or camera, and that data tracked on the app can be deleted. So there you have it.
What I like most about it is that you can track your sleep metrics without tying anything to your body, and it seems to be about as accurate as a Fitbit 3 or Oura ring. (I haven’t really run a sleep tracker on the Watch 8, so I might see more differences.) I like that it takes into account temperature, humidity, and distracting light.
Morphy Zen Pebble ($80)
Zen is a handheld device shaped like a smooth, flat stone that offers 72 audio sessions to help you relax and meditate.
The advantage of this small unit is that it can be used anytime and anywhere. It comes with wired headphones that really help slow down your racing thoughts and help you feel more relaxed.
Cons? Requires listening with wired headphones. Morphee says this is intentional to make their devices Bluetooth and Wi-Fi non-enabled.
Moonbird ($200)
Moonbird is also a palm-sized breathing coach, but it’s cylindrical and connects to an app on your smartphone to track a variety of noteworthy metrics, including heart rate and heart rate variability, or HRV.
Whenever you want to relax, grab the little device, place your thumb on the sensor, and perform one of the programmed breathing techniques, or choose your own.
Moonbird also slowly expands and contracts with your breathing as you inhale and exhale.
Its awkward shape aside, it delivers on its promise.
The biggest drawback is its price.
High-tech, high-priced space-age AI mattress
For those with money to spare, the Bryte Balance Smart Bed ($6,300 for queen size, $7,000 for king size) is worth considering.
I first tried this mattress in 2021 at Cavallo Point Lodge near San Francisco. The lodge is one of 14 luxury hotels nationwide to feature Bright Beds as a pillar of the growing sleep tourism trend.
The mattress connects to a tablet next to the bed and can be paired with an app on your smartphone. If you buy a mattress for your home, you will.
It can be programmed to sense when a softer or harder base is needed, down to specific areas of the body.
For example, I often sleep on my side, but when I wake up my lower back hurts and I have to roll over to the other side. This frustrating flip-flop routine wakes me up several times each night. The Bryte bed sensed when my lower hip bones needed softening and gently rocked me into a new position without waking me up.
I also sensed drops and spikes in temperature, and it was the first time I woke up sweaty and hot at 3am, then too cold to crawl out of the covers at 6am.
Apparently, the new Balance model the company is selling for home use doesn’t include adjustable temperature control, which is a huge bummer.
Each mattress has 90 individual coiled cushions that sense, shift, and relieve body pressure throughout the night. The coil rotates in gentle waves from top to bottom, and the tablet plays soothing “sleep-inducing sounds.” This is spa-like music that syncs with the movement of the mattress and really sways me into a world of sleep.
Both sides of the mattress can be programmed to give you and your partner different experiences. In the morning, the bed gently vibrates to wake you up and the app provides sleep statistics including the time spent in different stages of sleep. It also makes recommendations based on the artificial intelligence it collects along the way.
While I haven’t personally tried the other two top-rated smart mattresses, hundreds of other testers, including USA TODAY’s sister site Reviewed, have raved about these two.
How much does Eight Sleep cost?
Eight Sleeps’ Pod 3 mattress ($3,195 for queen size, $3,595 for king size) regulates temperature, wakes you up with gentle vibrations, and pairs with a smartphone app to track your sleep metrics.
The Sleep Number 360 p6 Smart Bed ($2,800 for queen size, $3,400 for king size) also gets great reviews, especially among couples who need two different beds in one. It allows you to adjust each side to your desired firmness, automatically adjusts at night with built-in air chambers, and can also be paired with an app to track your sleep. The main caveat with this mattress is that you’ll have to pay at least $550 or more to get a branded base that supports this technology.
Are blue light blocking glasses effective?
Blue light blocking glasses can help keep your technician’s azure hue from keeping you up at night. Typically, the blue light we receive from the sun during the day energizes us and helps regulate our body’s natural circadian rhythm. Too much blue light from phones, tablets, computers, video games, etc. disrupts our natural wake and sleep cycles.
In a study published last year, researchers looked at 50 pairs of blue-light blocking glasses and concluded that orange and red lenses were the best.
Red lenses tend to block most of the light that interferes with sleep, while orange lenses are easier to wear for long periods of time.
How much does it cost to get blue light blocking glasses?
Top picks here include Swanwick’s Classic Night Swanny ($89) for fashionistas who want to look cool while protecting their eyes from blue light. For something less expensive, but not embarrassing to wear in public, check out the Element Lux2 Blue Light Aviator ($40) on Amazon.
If you don’t mind looking like your 90-year-old grandfather wears them on his way home with dilated eyes, the $13 Uvex Skypeer blue-light blocking computer glasses are also effective.
Jennifer Jolie is an Emmy Award-winning consumer technology columnist. The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect his views and opinions at USA TODAY.
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