Single folks, your nights of sleeping alone are fast drawing to a close. If you long for a bedfellow to help you fall asleep with the steady rhythm of their breathing, you may just be in luck. Meet Somnox, a Dutch start up that has debuted what is being described as the world’s first sleep robot. The bot is not only a pleasant snuggle companion, but its maker also claims that it helps soothe the body and mind, and reduces stress and anxiety. And if all this is true, even those of us with sleeping partners may consider bringing this bot to bed.
The value proposition of the Somnox bot is rather simple — the bot simulates human breathing, which ought to trigger actual human sleepers to subconsciously adjust their breathing rhythms to match the robot’s. This ultimately leads to slow, steady breaths that are the most conducive to sleep. Moreover, the robot can play a range of sounds, whether they’re lullabies, guided meditation files, or just your favorite song. You can upload your own tracks by way of the companion Somnox app. And if you really want to pretend that you’re sleeping next to someone, you can even have Somnox play a heartbeat (though we think that’s just a bit creepy).
“We’ve been personally exposed to the effects of sleep deprivation.” says Somnox co-founder Julian Jagtenberg. “That’s why we founded Somnox. Rather than reaching for addictive medication, we wanted to offer a natural approach on improving sleep.”
Over the course of the last two years, Somnox notes that it has tested its peanut-shaped pillow product with over 5,000 people and explored “hundreds of prototype iterations.” But now, it would appear that the company is pleased with its finished product, and is taking its project to Kickstarter with hopes of investing in tooling and ultimate production.
“We made it our mission to help 100,000 people achieve a good night’s rest by 2025 with the world’s best natural sleep solution” Jagtenberg said. Be warned though, this isn’t an inexpensive solution. The Somnox sleep robot is currently taking pre-orders on Kickstarter for the rather hefty price of $530.
