It’s called the NightWave, and the concept behind it is pretty simple; conscious, deep breathing will relax your body, quiet your might, and can help activate your body’s natural sleep hormones. NightWave claims that by doing this, you will be able to fall asleep more quickly and sleep more soundly. The NightWave casts a relaxing hue on your bedroom ceiling or wall, you sync your breathing with the slowly pulsing light and bam! you are asleep before you know it. While it sounds simple, it really worked for me.

The global average of time to fall asleep for our users is 15 minutes. Mine has been particularly bad the past few weeks at 20 minutes (start-ups are stressful). I used the NightWave for 2 weeks on its standard 7 minute setting, synced my breathing with the pulsing light and I never made it to the end of the 7 minutes. Below is the comparison of my tags:

So if you find yourself tossing and turning at night, the NightWave could be the answer for you!

~WakeMates

The experiment consisted of me using Sleep Scentsations for 7 days and using my WakeMate to track the results. Sleep Scentsations are easy-to-use pillow liners infused with essential oils and fragrance that last 4-5 nights. You just place Sleep Scentsations on your pillow and the scent is released into the air creating a relaxing atmosphere and helping you to unwind and fall asleep more easily.

I used the ‘relax’ scent and as seen below my overall sleep score was 23% higher and my time to fall alseep was 38% shorter when using Sleep Scentsations.

Here you can see my average sleep score over the 7 nights I used Sleep Scensations was 63 vs. my 51 lifetime average.

Here you can see my average time to fall asleep over the 7 nights I used Sleep Scensations was 8 minutes vs. my 13 minute lifetime average.

We’d love to see your results as well! Check out Sleep Scentsations and make sure to tag it and report back to us!

~Team WakeMate

Sleep cycles are 90 minutes long. Sleeping in 90 minute increments will help you sleep efficiently and allow you to wake up feeling refreshed. [1] There’s even an app for that! [2]

Reality:

Sleep cycles are comprised of 5 stages; stages 1-4 and REM. While it is true the mean sleep cycle is 90 minutes, the range is actually 60 – 110 minutes. Journalistic enthusiasm seems to have glossed over the simple, but critical, fact that 90 minutes is only an average length. [3] Additionally, after the first few sleep cycles, that amount of time you spend in stages 3 and 4 decreases, while the time spent in stages 1, 2 and REM increases. [4]

Since it’s almost impossible to time your sleep cycles, sleeping in 90 minute increments does not ensure you will wake up refreshed. That is why waking up to a traditional alarm is like playing Russian Roulette with your early morning sanity. [5]

However, waking up at the end of a sleep cycle does help you sleep efficiently and wake up refreshed. It is just hard to do so without outside help…

How the WakeMate can help:

We built the WakeMate to adapt to the unpredictability of your sleep. The best way to achieve a better night’s rest is to monitor your sleeping patterns over the course of the night.  The WakeMate monitors a person’s sleep cycles via Actigraphy, a well-respected scientific monitoring system that has been employed by sleep labs for decades. [6]

 

The graph above is a sneak preview of a feature we are currently working on aimed at helping you figure out how long to sleep. It gives you real data on your personal sleep cycles. The x-axis represents how long you have been asleep and the y-axis represents the likelihood you are in each stage of sleep for any given minute. We calculate this by analyzing your WakeMate sleep history. For example, 4 hours after I fall asleep there is a ~40% chance I will be in deep sleep and a ~20% chance I will be in light sleep.

From the data above, you can see that at 6:45 I switch from a deep sleep cycle to a light sleep cycle. The same thing also happens at 8:00. Therefore, in order to maximize the amount of deep sleep I experience and wake up at the end of a sleep cycle, I should sleep for 6 hours, 45 minutes or 8 hours.

To feel refreshed when your alarm goes off, the best times to wake-up are at the end of a sleep cycle or during “almost awake” points which occur during REM sleep. These “almost awake” points are certain moments during REM when your brain thinks you are awake even though you are actually dreaming. The WakeMate finds these points using Actigraphy by analyzing the frequency and amplitude of your movements. The WakeMate then sounds the alarm so the transition to wakefulness is smooth and the urge to smash your alarm clock is not as strong.

tl;dr: Even if sleeping in 90 minute increments is not a useful strategy, the WakeMate is here to ensure you get the most out of your sleep and wake up feeling refreshed.

[1] http://www.ehow.com/how_4501483_improve-sleep-quality-using-easy.html
[2] http://sleepyti.me
[3] http://www.glenrhodes.com/?p=132
[4] http://www.sleepeducation.com/Topic.aspx?id=6
[5] Tassi P., & Muzet, A. (2000). Sleep inertia. Sleep Medicine Reviews, 4, 341-353.
[6] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Actigraphy

We have started shipping to the US, all EU countries and Canada!

If you ARE in the supported countries:

That long awaited moment is finally here! We are currently sending out emails in batches to all of the EU orders in the order they were placed. We should be through all European orders this week so if you do not get one by the end of the week, please email support@wakemate.com. Note: Most Canadian orders have not started shipping yet, but should begin next week!

If you are NOT in one of the supported countries, we have good news:

Right now, we cannot ship to you because we are not certified to do so in your particular country and we will not be certified for a while (months). However, we have partnered with http://www.opas.com/, a forwarding service that you can use to get your unit. They have offered our users a special deal of $25 off their service and you will not have to pay any additional taxes!  We will be sending out an email with the details once we have everything finalized and in place.

New international Orders:

For the next week or two we will only be taking ‘backorders’ from international customers who want to purchase. These order should be shipped in about a week. Once all pre-orders are shipped, we will take the store off ‘backorder’ and allow orders for immediate fulfillment.

~WakeMates

For those of you who don’t know what polyphasic sleep is, it is any method of sleeping multiple times in one day with the intent of sleep significantly less than with a traditional monophasic cycle. You do this by tricking your body to go directly into REM sleep, the most beneficial stage of sleep.

Below is a comprehensive list of some of the more popular polyphasic schedules thanks to our (awesome) friends over at http://www.highexistence.com/alternate-sleep-cycles.

Uberman Cycle:

20 to 30 minute naps every 4 hours, resulting in 6 naps each day. The uberman cycle is highly efficient, and usually results in feeling healthy,  feeling refreshed upon waking and extremely vivid dreams. Many uberman-users report increased ability to lucid dream as well. However, the rigid schedule makes it near impossible to miss naps without feeling horribly tired. Blogger Steve Pavlina tried the cycle for 5.5 months and had amazingly positive results.He only reverted to monophasic sleep so that he could be on the same cycle as his wife and children. Read his articles and updates on the cycle here.

Everyman Cycle:

One longer “core” nap that is supplemented with several 20-30 minute naps. The most successful variations that I have read about are either one 3 hour nap and three 20-minute naps or one 1.5 hour nap with 4-5 20 minute naps, all of which have equal amounts of time in between each nap. This cycle is much easier to adjust to than the Uberman and allows for more flexibity in nap times and in skipping naps when necessary. It is also still extremely efficient compared to monophasic with only 3-4 hours of sleep per day. Many bloggers have tried out this cycle and reported no negative effects on their health.

Dymaxion Cycle:

Bucky Fuller invented the cycle based on his belief that we have two energy tanks, the first is easy to replenish whereas the second tank (second wind) is much harder to replenish. So Bucky began sleeping for 30 minutes every 6 hours. That’s 2 hours a day of sleep! He reported feeling, “the most vigorous and alert condition I have ever enjoyed.” Doctors examined him after several years of using the cycle and pronounced him perfectly healthy. In fact, Fuller only stopped the cycle because his business associates were still stuck on monophasic cycles. This is by far the most extreme of the 4 alternate cycles, but also the most efficient.

Biphasic/Siesta Cycle:

Not even worthy of a diagram, the biphasic cycle is basically that of every college student in America. The biphasic cycle consists of sleeping for 4-4.5 hours at night, and then taking a 90 minute nap around noon. So not all that different, still more efficient than monophasic, but not by much.

How WakeMate can help:

A lot of our users have asked about polyphasic sleep and if the WakeMate can help in adjusting to a polyphasic sleep schedule so below is the answer:

1) The object of polyphasic sleep is to maximize the amount of time you spend in REM sleep. By utilizing the WakeMate’s optimal wake feature during your short periods of rest, you will ensure that you wake at the end of a or close to the end of a REM cycle.

2) One of the biggest hurdles in adjusting to a polyphasic sleep pattern is adjusting to waking multiple times per day from naps. As we all know from experience, waking from a nap at the wrong point will result is extreme sluggishness and grogginess. Again, the optimal wake feature can help you wake feeling as rested as possible from these naps.

We are thinking about making a special feature in our app to guide you through one of the above polyphasic schedules, but wanted to get our users’ opinions on the issue. Let us know if  you guys would be interested!

~WakeMates

A whopping 63% of Americans are unhappy with their quality of sleep during the week. NSF offers a solution, but it is one that not many people will like; turn off your electronics an hour before bed.

“Our bodies take time to wind down at night. If we’ve got bright light conditions, we’re not giving ourselves a chance to get off to sleep and stay asleep.” said Allison G. Harvey, a sleep specialist and professor of psychology at the University of California at Berkeley. “The problem is that light exposure before sleep can disrupt body rhythms and suppress the release of the hormone melatonin, which promotes sleep”, Harvey explained.

If you read or surf on your computer before bed (95% or those surveyed did) there is solution! Enter f.lux, the little app that will allow us to have our proverbial cake and eat it too. It automatically adjusts your computer’s screen to the optimal hue given the time of day so we electronics gluttons can get our tech fix and still get good sleep.

I have been using f.lux for the past 8 nights (I generally use my laptop for about 90 minutes before going to sleep) and my sleep scores have gone up about 15%! It’s still too early for anything conclusive, but it definitely seems to be doing its job.

We would love to see how much F.lux improves your sleep. If you use your computer before bed please download f.lux and tag your nights with ‘F.lux’ (more about tagging).

First off happy national sleep awareness week! National sleep awareness week is an annual public education and awareness campaign to promote the importance of sleep. The week begins with the announcement of the National Sleep Foundation’s Sleep in America poll results and ends with the clock change to Daylight Saving Time, where Americans lose one hour of sleep.

Here at WakeMate we thought this would be a great time to kick our new blog initiative! In an effort to help people get the best sleep possible, we will be sharing information about sleep from sleep labs, doctors and even some of the results we are seeing from our users. We think everyone can benefit greatly from a communal discussion on what sleep tricks are working for them and that the WakeMate tagging feature is a great tool to help quantify the results.

We will be blogging, tweeting and sharing on facebook so please make sure to like us and follow us!

~Team WakeMate

We’ve now had a chance to retrieve the failed black power adapter and do some testing. Here’s what we know after spending a week investigating:

• The faulty black power adapter contained electronic components that became loose or detached. This component failure lead to the faulty power adapters outputting out an out-of-spec power signal. Whereas it should have been 5V DC, the faulty power bricks were outputting a signal with 50V spikes at 85kHz:



• This out-of-spec power signal caused the battery charging IC to reach an out-of-spec temperature (verified by our testing this past week), causing the battery to catch on fire.

• Charging under normal circumstances does NOT produce any dangerous conditions. The WakeMate wristbands are safe to use with reliable charge sources.

We have written a full Failure Analysis Report and are working with the proper regulation agencies to ensure that this never happens again.

Your WakeMates are still safe to use. Just ensure that you use a trusted USB source like a computer, alternate USB adapter or mini USB charger from a different product.

With all that we’ve learned from our crazy experiences, we expect 2011 to be a great year! We’ve already put together some comprehensive bug fixes you should be seeing as soon as Apple approves our latest WakeMate App update and are hard at work on new features. It is incredibly heartening to see the positive response from our users and the amount of people using our product every day.

Happy New Year!

–The WakeMate Team

Attention All WakeMate Customers:

The black USB power adapters included in all shipped WakeMates may be defective. They can cause overheating in the wristband and may cause the wristband to catch on fire. All customers are advised to cease use of the black USB power adapters immediately. We will be replacing them. Please discard the black USB power adapter to ensure that no one else uses it.

Your safety is our number one concern. We have sent emails to all customers notifying them of this issue. PLEASE VERIFY you have received this notice and that you have DISCONTINUED USE OF THE BLACK USB POWER ADAPTER.

If we do not receive a verification response from you via the email we send out, we will call the contact number listed with your WakeMate Order to alert you of the recall and ask that you take the necessary steps to verify you received notice and have discontinued use of the black USB power adapters.

You can also update your shipping information by emailing arung@wakemate.com. For up to date information on the status of this recall, please visit this webpage:
http://www.wakemate.com/docs/recall

In the meantime, you can use any other mini USB charger or power brick with the included usb cable. You can also use the included cable to charge the WakeMate out of your computer.

We apologize again for shipping a faulty product component. We are absolutely committed to helping you get the best sleep possible, and will do everything in our power to ensure that we ship a safe product.

Sincerely,
The WakeMate Team

Everyone,

We have send out all the order confirmation emails to US buyers. Again, we cannot send out international orders yet due to certification issues and shipping logistics. We need a little extra time before fulfilling these pre-orders.

If you ordered from outside the US and have a friend in the US or want to use a mail forwarding service please email us at contact@wakemate.com with your name and the email address you ordered with and we will manually send you the confirmation email.

If you did not get a confirmation email and are in the US please email us at contact@wakemate.com with your name and the email address you ordered with and we will manually send you the confirmation email.

~Greg, Arun, Craig