What is “sleep tech?” Explore its specific examples and its reliability and dangers.

＜prologue＞

I started a blog called “The Baby Boomer Generation’s Miscellaneous Blog”（Dankai-sedai no garakutatyou:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳） in July 2018, about a year before I fully retired. More than six years have passed since then, and the number of articles has increased considerably.

So, in order to make them accessible to people who don’t understand Japanese, I decided to translate my past articles into English and publish them.

It may sound a bit exaggerated, but I would like to make this my life’s work.

It should be noted that haiku and waka （Japanese short fixed form poems） are quite difficult to translate into English, so some parts are written in Japanese.

If you are interested in haiku or waka and would like to know more, please read introductory or specialized books on haiku or waka written in English.

I also write many articles about the Japanese language. I would be happy if these inspire more people to want to learn Japanese.

my blog’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳 | 団塊世代が雑学や面白い話を発信しています

my X’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多帳（@historia49）さん / X

Sleep, along with diet and exercise, is essential to human health. About one-third of our lives is spent sleeping. By the way, recently we often hear the term “Sleep Tech” . In addition, the TBS affiliate “Gatchiri Monday! and in commercials, we often see advertisements for sleep-supporting supplements such as Ajinomoto’s “Grina”, House Wellness Foods’ “Ner Noda”, and Otsuka Pharmaceutical’s “Kenja no Kaimin”. Goku no Kimochi’s “Sleep Udon,” an idea bedding product, is also on the market and seems to be popular.

According to the OECD’s 2011 survey of average hours of sleep for citizens of member countries, Japan, at 7.9 hours, is less than the OECD average of 8.3 hours.

Only South Korea (7.7 hours) sleeps less than Japan. Japan is less than the United States (8.5 hours).

Spain, where it is customary to take “nap time,” is at 8.5 hours, while Italy is at 8.7 hours.

Therefore, I would like to consider SleepTech.

１．What is “Sleep Tech”?

Many people seem to have problems with sleep, ranging from temporary sleeplessness due to worries about waking up to chronic insomnia.

Sleep Tech” refers to ”solutions to sleep problems (e.g., apps and IoT devices) that make full use of a variety of technologies.

According to a survey by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, approximately 40% of Japanese adults are “sleep deprived. Conversely, many people are seeking a “comfortable sleep.

This has led to a boom in the “sleep business,” including “pillows and beds for a good night’s sleep,” “lighting,” “aroma,” “background music to induce sleep,” and even “sleep cafes” to improve sleep.

Sleep tech, which solves sleep issues through “big data,” “IoT,” and “AI,” is attracting attention, as evidenced by the establishment of the first “Sleep Tech Zone” at CES 2018, the international consumer electronics market held in Las Vegas in January 2018.

The global market size of the sleep business was estimated to be $58 billion (about 6.582 trillion yen) in 2014, and is expected to reach $80 billion (about 9.785 trillion yen) by 2020.

２．Specific examples of SleepTech products

Here are some examples of some of SleepTech products

（１）Nokia Sleep

The system is placed under the mattress, measures the vibration and sound of the sleeper, and automatically works with the Health Mate app via Wi-Fi to provide the user with data history, personalized advice, and guidance programs to help improve sleep.

（２）Smart Sleep Light

This is a product of Smartace of Shenzhen, China. The idea is to improve the quality of falling asleep and waking up with light and sound while monitoring the state of sleep via a smartphone application.

Before going to bed, the device uses light that produces red wavelengths to enhance melatonin secretion and gentle music to help you fall asleep, and automatically stops both light and music when it detects sleep. Upon awakening, the light gradually brightens in time with the waking time to produce light similar to that of sunlight during shallow sleep.

（３）SmartSleep

This headband-type sleep improvement device (apparatus) was presented by PHILIPS at CES 2018, the International Consumer Electronics Show.

The device detects sleep using sensors attached to the back of the ear and emits special sound waves (white noise) from a built-in speaker, leading to a deeper state of good sleep. It can be said to be a product specialized in “sleep optimization.

（４）NGmatt 2.0

This mattress automatically adjusts the pressure of up to 16 air bags and allows the application to correct spine distortions in the sleeping posture. It also has heart rate variability and a “sleep tracking function.

The “sleep tracking function” uses a microphone and acceleration sensor to analyze the state of sleep (REM and non-REM sleep cycles, etc.) and track heart rate to detect and record snoring.

（５）Nightingale

This is a device (apparatus) that uses an even, soft, enveloping sound (sound bracket) to muffle noise that interferes with sleep, allowing you to fall asleep faster than normal.

３．Advantages and Disadvantages of SleepTech

The SleepTech products introduced above are just a few of the many products of this type that continue to appear. However, you may be wondering whether these products are really effective and whether there are any problems with their use. In fact, SleepTech is not yet an established technology and is still in a “mixed bag.

Let us consider whether SleepTech is reliable in terms of “medical evidence” and whether there are any dangers, in terms of merits and demerits.

（１）Advantages

If a person with sleep problems believes in the effectiveness of the product and uses it, and as a result feels that “the quality of sleep has improved”, then it is a benefit. However, this is similar to a “supplement”; it is a “personal opinion” and does not guarantee efficacy or effectiveness.

（２）Disadvantages

According to Arshad Ebrahim, medical director of the London Sleep Clinic, “Not a single wearable (body-worn) device that I know of can measure sleep,” and “Most products measure movement through the wrist, but such data is useless for sleep medicine. This is true.

As a side effect, some people who have used SleepTech products have become “obsessed with the compulsive need to get good data” as a result of excessive monitoring of their sleep, according to the report.

A team of cognitive-behavioral scientists is studying this as “orthosomnia” (an anxiety disorder caused by the desire for perfect sleep).

I think this means that there is a danger that technology developed to improve the quality of sleep may have the ironic or even downright perverse result of creating behavioral disorders that result in people not being able to sleep at night.

４．My recommended method for a good night’s sleep

Every day when I get into bed and before going to sleep, I do a few “breathe in a little and breathe out long and thin” breathing exercises with my mind empty, not thinking about anything. This will help you fall into a deep sleep promptly. This is a self-styled, “analog” method of restful sleep, but it is surprisingly effective.

Please feel cheated and give it a try.

When you are angry or excited, you can also calm yourself down by doing the “breathe in a little and breathe out long and thin” breathing technique several times. I always use this method to calm myself down before taking my blood pressure. If your blood pressure is higher than usual at the first measurement, you can always try this method to lower it. In other words, this breathing technique is effective in lowering blood pressure!

WITHINGS SLEEP WSM02-ALL-JP (WSM02ALLJP)