This extraordinary active pillow is designed to detect snoring and actually do something about it – repositioning your head until you breathe easier, without waking you up. Yes, we've officially entered the age of the AI pillow.
Hooti, which has been called "the next-generation anti-snore pillow," promises to help you and those around you get a peaceful night's sleep, without any intrusive gadgets getting in the way.
It's estimated that nearly half of all adults snore occasionally, while 25% are regular snorers. And while it can disturb anyone under the same roof, particularly partners sharing a bed with a snorer, it can also hugely compromise sleep quality and overall health. So could something as simple as a pillow be the solution? The makers of this one believe so.
Calling it just a pillow seems to undersell its actual usefulness. The tech startup team behind Hooti say they have "successfully developed the first intelligent digital anti-snoring sleep product based on flexible high-sensitivity sensor technology." While it looks like a comfortable memory foam pillow, within its layers is the key to what the makers say will change the way you sleep for good.
Its anti-snore mechanism uses bone conduction technology, rather than microphone assessment, to collect real-time data on how you're sleeping, and will feed this information back from your smartphone to the airbag buried deep within the pillow to gently inflate and change shape, slightly shifting your sleeping position to remove airway restrictions. The makers report the data is more than 90% accurate, and two adjacent pillows can operate simultaneously without interfering with each other's readings.
When the pillow detects the telltale vibrations of snoring, which travel through the bones to a sensor, the sound waves are captured and analyzed by AI on a smartphone app. When the snoring pattern and intensity is measured, the app will then send instructions back to the pillow, initiating soft, micro-vibrations from its center to the sleeper that prompt adjustment. The airbag within will then adjust the sleeper's head slightly to open airways without waking them.
"The built-in detectors gather data on snoring vibrations, heart rate, and breathing patterns," the makers say. "The advanced AI processes this data in real time and makes precise adjustments by activating the airbag system to reposition your head, ensuring clear airways and reducing snoring effectively."
The data, sent via Bluetooth, tracks snoring patterns, breathing rate, heart rate and body movement both in real time for pillow adjustment and to learn from, becoming a wholly personalized anti-snoring system.
"This data is compiled daily, monthly, and yearly," the creators add. "Based on the analysis of the user’s sleep and snoring data, the app formulates a personalized, scientific, and healthy sleep solution."
And for all the data nerds, this information – as well as other sleep statistics – is stored for review, so you can see just what might be to blame for waking feeling less rested than when you went to bed.
It's quiet, runs on low power, and even comes with a neck massage function that can be customized to the type of pre-sleep relaxation desired.
While the inner core is not washable, for obvious reasons, the rest of the pillow is. You can also turn off the "smart intervention" function, so it can just monitor your sleep without making adjustments – though we're not sure why you'd want to.
The Hooti AI pillow has just launched on Kickstarter and is available for a special launch price at US$199, which is 60% off expected retail cost. Shipping is estimated to be $35 to the US, and comes with a power cable and a travel bag. The company expects shipping to begin in October.
This one's got us rather fascinated. If it does what it says on the tin, gently helping you stop snoring without waking you up, a couple of hundred bucks could pay serious dividends in terms of sleep quality – for the user and anyone in the same room. A terrific idea and a gadget we'd be keen to try for ourselves.
Source: Kickstarter
