The app tracks a combination of different non-biomedical factors, including body movements, sounds related to sleep disorders and ambient lighting
Researchers from Lancaster University in the UK and Northwest University in China have reportedly developed an app for smartwatches that can accurately estimate sleep quality and provide users with practical advice to help them get a better night’s snooze.
Dubbed SleepGuard, the smartwatch app tracks a combination of different non-biomedical factors, including body movements, sounds related to sleep disorders and ambient lighting, according to a news agency report.
The research team conducted tests and found that SleepGuard can estimate sleep-quality at a similar accuracy to consumer-grade sleep monitors. It also captures key information about the factors behind sleep quality and can help wearers identify the root causes of their poor sleep.
The technology may thus help users have a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of their sleep and enable them to take informed actions to improve the quality of their sleep and, as a result, their health.
Simple recommendations for getting improved sleep could involve altering the lighting in the bedroom, addressing noise, changing postures and also hand positions.
The researchers noted that in order to capture the root cause of poor sleep and address the problem, it is required to know the details of the sleeping environment and the individual’s postures and movements across sleeping stages.
The project aims to unlock the full potential of off-the-shelf consumer smartwatches, taking advantage of their sophisticated suite of sensors to gain a fuller understanding of a wearer’s sleep patterns, they said.
SleepGuard captures physical activities rather than biomedical signals. It can also count the number of times the wearer rolls over during sleep — another indicator of sleep quality with excessive rollovers potentially indicating disturbed sleep.
Compared to existing sleep monitors on the market, SleepGuard is able to report a wider range of sleep events and provide wearers with a better understanding for the causes of their sleep problems, the research team has claimed.
