“Smart” devices pervade our culture, giving everything from
your car to your medicine cabinet a mind of its own. Now, even when your own mind is shut off for
the night, a smart device can be there to keep you informed of your sleep
stats. Ladies and gentlemen, this is
totally not a joke. Meet the smart
pillow.
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| If you like death metal and your partner likes dubstep, now you can both snooze to your own tunes! (Image courtesy kickstarter.com.) |
According to engadget.com, the Zeeq “smart pillow” is a
dreamy device that tracks the motion and volume of your snoring, lulls you to
sleep with onboard speakers, and even wakes you up thanks to a vibrating motor
(which doubles as a nudge to keep you from snoring too much.)
Created by the awakened mind of REM-Fit’s Miguel Marrero,
the Zeeq was created out of a desire to fall asleep to music (despite whatever
silence your partner prefers to enjoy.) This
escalated into a full-on pillow paradise.
REM-Fit, a subsidiary of Protect-A-Bed, made sure the Zeeq is as comfy
as any other high-end pillow (despite the embedded tech touches), featuring a
removable quilted outer cover and an interior stuffed with shredded memory foam
(which can be removed to perfect your pillow-plushness preferences.)
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| That's like a terabyte of memory foam in there. (Image courtesy theverge.com.) |
The onboard speakers are connected loosely enough so that
they don’t interfere with normal pillow operations. They are large enough for the user to enjoy
sonically, but not so obstreperous as to intervene on others’ ears. Music options include “Zeeq Sleep Tracks”
(free sound effects and mood music), connectivity to your own music, and
even a premium Spotify option. Other
than those sounds, the motors make a noticeable noise, but are not required for
your sleep experience.
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| You can quantify your conditions for every waking moment ...and now, every sleeping one. (Image courtesy kickstarter.com.) |
This whole techno-snoozing marvel is, of course, run via an app (there’s also a remote, but where’s the fun in that?) The app creates a comprehensive “SleepScore”
profile, into which you provide data on stress levels, exercise, and alcohol
consumption. The snoring monitors help factor
in your depth of dreaminess. A normal
alarm and a “SmartWake” function both serve to stir you from slumber, with the
SmartWake option rousing you if the pillow senses that maybe you feel like
waking up early (probably not a feature a lot of folks will want, but hey, it’s
a nice idea.)
Zeeq is currently on Kickstarter at $99 for early adopters,
with an eventual retail price of $299.
That’s a pricy pillow, yes, but some superb sleep could be well worth
it. Let’s just hope it doesn’t report
your dreams to the NSA…
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| Last thing we need is the damn dream police to show up... (Image courtesy ANARCHY.) |
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