Sunrise Smart Pillow monitors your sleep cycle as it awakens you

By Lulu Chang Updated May 8, 2017

It’s key to helping you sleep, and now, it will play a role in waking you up, too. We’re talking, of course, about your pillow — that indispensable bedroom accessory that will draw you to bed at the end of the day. But this isn’t just any pillow. It’s the Sunrise Smart Pillow, and it promises to “revolutionize your mornings and your nights” and help you bid adieu to restless nights and groggy mornings alike.

When it’s time to get out of bed, your smart pillow will simulate a sunrise. So even if you’re rising before the sun (or just sleeping with the curtains fully drawn), the light strips located in the sides of the pillow will gently rouse you much as natural streaming light would. Just set your alarm, and the pillow will do the rest.

In fact, the alarm associated with the Sunrise Pillow claims to be a smart one, detecting your sleep cycle and beginning the wake-up process when you’re in the lightest phase of your sleep cycle. That means your pillow will start to emulate sunrise before your alarm goes off, ensuring that by the time you open your eyes, you’re feeling rested.

And apparently, you don’t have to worry about jarring alarm sounds anymore either, as the Sunrise Pillow will play nature sounds or your favorite music to rouse you out of bed. Of course, the pillow comes with a companion app, which is meant to track your sleep trends and history to show you how much deep sleep you’re getting a day, and perhaps, how to improve your sleep quality.

“The way we’ve been waking up (with ordinary alarms) is unnatural, even harmful, and needs to change,” the Sunrise Pillow team notes on its Kickstarter page. “Waking from a deep sleep not only sabotages your morning energy & mood but more importantly your daily momentum.”

Currently, you can pre-order a Sunrise Pillow for $99, with an estimated delivery date of August 2017.

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Fascinated by the effects of technology on human interaction, Lulu believes that if her parents can use your new app…

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