Samsung's SleepSense tracker shuts off the TV when you snooze
Samsung has just revealed its take on the sleep-tracking concept with a new device called SleepSense. Rather than making you wear something on your wrist at night (which is a non-starter for a lot of folks), Samsung proposes that you slip the flat, disk-like device under your mattress, like similar devices from Withings and Misfit. It will then monitor your heart rate, breathing and movement during sleep with a claimed 97 percent accuracy. That information is transmitted to a smartphone app, which gives you an "individual sleep score" based on seven factors, including total sleep time, the number of times you awoke and the percentage of REM sleep.
If you already have trouble sleeping, then you may not need the pressure of getting rated. However, the app will provide "expert advice" from a Harvard sleep expert on how to improve it by changing nutrition, exercise and other factors. SleepSense also works with Samsung's SmartThings IoT home automation system. When it detects that you've fallen asleep, it can turn off lights or the TV and lower the air conditioning, for instance. It sounds pretty good, but while it's launching in Korea later this year, there's no word on a US or European arrival, and we still don't have the all-important price.
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