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Trying to hack a good night's sleep

arstechnica.com

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Re: Trying to hack a good night's sleep

#11

Post by DenisM »

ktharavaad wrote: post #6
tdedecko wrote: post #5

Surprised that Zeo wasn't mentioned in the article. The startup just launched their product 2 weeks ago. It helps track your sleep patterns using a head band that reads brain activity. The software analyzes this information to help improve your sleep. It also has an alarm clock that waits until you are no longer in deep sleep to wake you up.

Looks very interesting since their technology actually measures brain waves instead of just physical activity. However, the cost of it $400 is a bit expensive.

$400 is cheap, a real EEG device will cost you about $800. This is excellent news.

Re: Trying to hack a good night's sleep

#12

Post by ShabbyDoo »

ktharavaad wrote: post #6
tdedecko wrote: post #5

Surprised that Zeo wasn't mentioned in the article. The startup just launched their product 2 weeks ago. It helps track your sleep patterns using a head band that reads brain activity. The software analyzes this information to help improve your sleep. It also has an alarm clock that waits until you are no longer in deep sleep to wake you up.

Looks very interesting since their technology actually measures brain waves instead of just physical activity. However, the cost of it $400 is a bit expensive.

Expensive relative to what? Let's say you do fixed-cost software development and you know that you can get 5% more done when you sleep well. If your goal is to earn $50/hour, then you'd pay for the device in about seven months. I use a CPAP, and I bet the co-pays alone for the sleep studies to determine that I needed it exceeded $400.

*Presuming you could train yourself to sleep sufficiently better to work 5% better (in whatever units better is)

Re: Trying to hack a good night's sleep

#13

Post by anigbrowl »

ryanspahn wrote: post #7

I've never had trouble sleeping but in my start-up journey the alarm clock and working to improve it has become part of my life. Most people just want to hear a noise, like an mp3; maybe because that's what they are use to. FOr us we want you to hear a 5 seconds of information that tells you to go back to sleep(i.e. heavy snow) or helps u with day ahead (flight's canceled). Do people want such a fancy alarm wake up s…

Interesting idea. Actually, I don't want to know that on waking up unless it's really urgent. I'd rather read it, because I don't like noise in the morning.

What I would like is an alarm clock with a graduated volume control, as opposed to the silence followed by loud noise that usually prevails, and which is guaranteed to put me in a pissy mood. Mrs Browl has a blackberry, which sounds so obnoxious out of the box I had to insist on changing the alarm sound.

Re: Trying to hack a good night's sleep

#14

Post by ShabbyDoo »

ryanspahn wrote: post #7

I've never had trouble sleeping but in my start-up journey the alarm clock and working to improve it has become part of my life. Most people just want to hear a noise, like an mp3; maybe because that's what they are use to. FOr us we want you to hear a 5 seconds of information that tells you to go back to sleep(i.e. heavy snow) or helps u with day ahead (flight's canceled). Do people want such a fancy alarm wake up s…

I want one that is easy to set when I'm damned tired, ready to go to bed, and realize that I have to set my alarm. Once in a hotel, I used a Sony alarm clock that had a big on/off switch and two dials, one for hour of day and another for minutes (in 5 min increments). It was really hard to screw up. Unfortunately, I can't find one anywhere.

Re: Trying to hack a good night's sleep

#15

Post by ryanspahn »

anigbrowl wrote: post #13
ryanspahn wrote: post #7

I've never had trouble sleeping but in my start-up journey the alarm clock and working to improve it has become part of my life. Most people just want to hear a noise, like an mp3; maybe because that's what they are use to. FOr us we want you to hear a 5 seconds of information that tells you to go back to sleep(i.e. heavy snow) or helps u with day ahead (flight's canceled). Do people want such a fancy alarm wake up s…

Interesting idea. Actually, I don't want to know that on waking up unless it's really urgent. I'd rather read it, because I don't like noise in the morning. What I would like is an alarm clock with a graduated volume control, as opposed to the silence followed by loud noise that usually prevails, and which is guaranteed to put me in a pissy mood. Mrs Browl has a blackberry, which sounds so obnoxious out of the box I…

So you don't use an alarm clock that uses noise to wake you?

We have made the noise extremely short and it repeats til you stop it. This weekend I was gonna go on a hike that was 2 hours away with some friends. Forecast woke me saying hot with thunderstorms. In my slumber and fumble to stop noise I only grasped one point - thunderstorms and went back to sleep! 2 hours to hike in thunderstorms no thanks.

Re: Trying to hack a good night's sleep

#16

Post by DenisM »

ShabbyDoo wrote: post #12
ktharavaad wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Looks very interesting since their technology actually measures brain waves instead of just physical activity. However, the cost of it $400 is a bit expensive.

Expensive relative to what? Let's say you do fixed-cost software development and you know that you can get 5% more done when you sleep well. If your goal is to earn $50/hour, then you'd pay for the device in about seven months. I use a CPAP, and I bet the co-pays alone for the sleep studies to determine that I needed it exceeded $400. *Presuming you could train yourself to sleep sufficiently better to work 5% better…

Are you buying one of these? I'm really tempted.

Re: Trying to hack a good night's sleep

#17

Post by msluyter »

anigbrowl wrote: post #10
msluyter wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've read that alcohol is generally not recommended because it disrupts your sleeping patterns. Certainly, large amounts of it do so for me. A while ago I tried eliminating all caffeine (I typically drink a lot of diet Coke and coffee). The first few days were hell, and I pretty much sat staring blankly at my computer. Then I had a couple of really magical days where I felt quite alert even in the typically drowsy af…

Yeah a big drink will do that. If I'm having a nightcap then it's just a thimbleful rather than a tumbler; I like fine whiskey, and it's sufficiently expensive that I restrict myself to little sips rather than full measures.

Yes, one thing that I've read also helps is having a sort of nightly ritual. It conditions your mind to expect to go to sleep through repetition. It sounds like your glass of whiskey also may serve that purpose.

Re: Trying to hack a good night's sleep

#19

Post by weaksauce »

anigbrowl wrote: post #10
msluyter wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've read that alcohol is generally not recommended because it disrupts your sleeping patterns. Certainly, large amounts of it do so for me. A while ago I tried eliminating all caffeine (I typically drink a lot of diet Coke and coffee). The first few days were hell, and I pretty much sat staring blankly at my computer. Then I had a couple of really magical days where I felt quite alert even in the typically drowsy af…

Yeah a big drink will do that. If I'm having a nightcap then it's just a thimbleful rather than a tumbler; I like fine whiskey, and it's sufficiently expensive that I restrict myself to little sips rather than full measures.

It's probably the routine more than the liqueur that gets you primed for bed at those levels.

Re: Trying to hack a good night's sleep

#20

Post by IsaacSchlueter »

sutro wrote: post #18

I'm trying to hack breathing. And walking. Because I'm a hacker. Who hacks things. I can hack anything. I can hack running. I can hack singing. Hack hack hack hack. See, I just hacked typing.

In soviet russia, software hacks you! http://skitch.com/isaacschlueter/pseu
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