Somnox is the first robot you might actually want to sleep with. To be fair, it looks more like a pillow than a robot, but it’s equipped with an accelerometer, an audio sensor and a carbon dioxide sensor. Hold it to your chest when you’re trying to fall asleep, and you’ll actually feel Somnox expand in and out as though it’s breathing. It’s meant to help you relax, regulate your breathing with its own and fall asleep.
Due out this fall for $550 (roughly £400 or AU$700), the Somnox can use its carbon dioxide sensor to tell when you fall asleep, and it’ll shut itself off. I’m skeptical that feeling something else breathing would help me fall asleep, but a colleague of mine tried it out for a night and got a great night’s sleep.
The theory is that you’ll automatically start breathing along with it, and that rhythmic breathing will help you calm down if you’re stressed. It was designed to help people who struggle with sleep get a better rest without taking any medication. That’s a cool theory, and at the very least, it’s intriguing enough that I want to try it out.
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