Sleeping is one of the most important things we do, but what if we are doing it wrong? This interesting news came to us from BGR in their article, “MIT researchers figured out how to track sleeping positions without cameras or sensors.”
Technology companies have worked out all sorts of ways of tracking sleep quality to improve sleep, using various technologies that are readily available. Sensors and metadata in phones, smartwatches, fitness trackers and health applications provide information about the time you went to sleep, the time you woke up and medical measurements like breathing and heart rates.
A neural network analyzes all the data and provides valuable insight. The device can tell whether a person has been sleeping on the right side from a person who just tilted slightly towards the right side. This might not seem like a big deal, but it’s absolutely important for people who suffer from epilepsy or people who sleep in a prone position correlated with sudden unexpected death.
Improved sleep is about more than feeling restful. Sleeping positions could help patients suffering from various illnesses, including Parkinson’s, epilepsy, sleep apnea and bedsores. The device could be used to monitor infants as they sleep.
Melody K. Smith
Sponsored by Access Innovations, the world leader in taxonomies, metadata, and semantic enrichment to make your content findable.
