3 ms·

> it's very inaccurate That's going to be the case for any kind of wrist-based or bed-based sleep monitor. It simply isn't possible to derive accurate informat

by Youden 7y ago

> it's very inaccurate That's going to be the case for any kind of wrist-based or bed-based sleep monitor. It simply isn't possible to derive accurate information about sleep by observing basic heart-rate and/or movement readings. If you want real accuracy, look at the headband sleep trackers like Dreem or the Philips SmartSleep Headband. These use EEG to measure your brain activity. Personally, I'm very happy with Dreem.

DaiPlusPlus 7y ago
I have an Apple Beddit. It was surprisingly accurate for me - but then it stopped working completely.
scrollaway 7y ago
I dunno, I feel like there's inaccurate and very inaccurate. The Withings does detect my sleep times but it can vary by up to an hour, and it doesn't detect when I wake up for ~15 mins then fall back asleep. I'm looking at the Dreem and SmartSleep headbands right now. Can you tell me more about them? They both claim to "improve sleep" but their marketing site doesn't really say how. Keep in mind that all I want in the end is to have the numbers of when I was asleep, and when I was not. My goal being to have a graph of those numbers to see when I actually sleep. (eg. how much do my sleep times drift every day, how much do i sleep per week, etc) Edit: Actually, the Dreem looks a lot closer to what I want. My main problem with it is I wouldn't be wearing it constantly, so it wouldn't catch a powernap unless I both carry it with me, and remember to take it with me. Nethertheless, shoot me your referral code, I may end up buying it.
- Youden 7y ago
  Personally I only use Dreem so I can't tell you much about SmartSleep. > Can you tell me more about them? They both claim to "improve sleep" but their marketing site doesn't really say how. For Dreem, there are a few ways it's intended to improve your sleep: - Directly: It applies "stimulations" to "enhance" your deep sleep. These are sounds that are meant to intensify certain kinds of brain waves. I don't know much about them and can't say that they've improved my sleep quality. - Education: In addition to simply showing you how much you sleep (which I find immensely useful) and how well you sleep (duration, stages of sleep, every single time you wake up during the night, no matter how short), the mobile app includes what I can only call training programs that are intended to help you improve your sleep yourself. These range from the introductory "this is how to use the headband" to a full-fledged CBT course. - Small improvements: The app has a sleep routine feature that reminds you with a mobile notification when it's time to go to bed and automatically sets the alarm in the morning. The alarm sound is produced by a bone conduction speaker embedded in the headset. You can allow the headset to wake you early and if you do so, it will try to find the least disruptive time to wake you within the allowed period. Finally, it can play various sounds through the speaker to help you get to sleep, both ambient sounds (e.g. birds, waves, rain etc.) and guided-meditation type stuff. > Keep in mind that all I want in the end is to have the numbers of when I was asleep, and when I was not. My goal being to have a graph of those numbers to see when I actually sleep. (eg. how much do my sleep times drift every day, how much do i sleep per week, etc) For regular sleep at night it will do that perfectly. For random naps and dozing during the day, it won't be any help at all. However the app is integrated with Apple Health, so if you wear something else that can detect those short dozes during the day, you can unite the two devices there.
mistermann 7y ago
I'd never heard of these before and would also be interested in any additional details you might have on how well it's worked for you, or any recommended ~trustworthy websites that have writeups on this kind of technology.
- Youden 7y ago
  I'm not aware on websites with trustworthy writeups, I think the technology is too new. It's essentially all press releases and marketing pages. I elaborated a bit on what the headset does here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22015098 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22015098 As for how well it's worked, the biggest benefit for me so far is that it accurately informs me about how well I'm sleeping. Not just how long but also the quality of that sleep. That helps me control my otherwise eternally drifting bed times. Aside from that, I appreciate the alarm clock function. It generally works as advertised and wakes me while I'm in a light stage of sleep. Something I've been meaning to do is a poor man's study of various things that affect sleep, like light, ventilation, doing a calming activity before bed and that kind of thing.
  - mistermann 7y ago
    > As for how well it's worked, the biggest benefit for me so far is that it accurately informs me about how well I'm sleeping. Not just how long but also the quality of that sleep. In your experience so far does the machine's indication of the quality of sleep ~unmistakably correspond with how you "feel" your sleep is? I assume the answer is yes, but I guess I'm more interested in the magnitude of how helpful you think the device is. It's not cheap, but if it does seem to really deliver results, it's not all that pricey that I'd exclude giving it a experimental spin based on cost.
    - Youden 7y ago
      When the headband indicates that I had bad sleep, it always matches how rested I feel. When the headband indicates that I had good sleep, it doesn't necessarily match how rested I feel. However I don't think the latter point is because the device is giving me bad readings. If you don't _consistently_ get enough high-quality sleep, you won't feel well rested.

by Youden 7y ago

DaiPlusPlus 7y ago

I have an Apple Beddit. It was surprisingly accurate for me - but then it stopped working completely.

scrollaway 7y ago

I dunno, I feel like there's inaccurate and very inaccurate. The Withings does detect my sleep times but it can vary by up to an hour, and it doesn't detect when I wake up for ~15 mins then fall back asleep. I'm looking at the Dreem and SmartSleep headbands right now. Can you tell me more about them? They both claim to "improve sleep" but their marketing site doesn't really say how. Keep in mind that all I want in the end is to have the numbers of when I was asleep, and when I was not. My goal being to have a graph of those numbers to see when I actually sleep. (eg. how much do my sleep times drift every day, how much do i sleep per week, etc) Edit: Actually, the Dreem looks a lot closer to what I want. My main problem with it is I wouldn't be wearing it constantly, so it wouldn't catch a powernap unless I both carry it with me, and remember to take it with me. Nethertheless, shoot me your referral code, I may end up buying it.

Youden 7y ago
Personally I only use Dreem so I can't tell you much about SmartSleep. > Can you tell me more about them? They both claim to "improve sleep" but their marketing site doesn't really say how. For Dreem, there are a few ways it's intended to improve your sleep: - Directly: It applies "stimulations" to "enhance" your deep sleep. These are sounds that are meant to intensify certain kinds of brain waves. I don't know much about them and can't say that they've improved my sleep quality. - Education: In addition to simply showing you how much you sleep (which I find immensely useful) and how well you sleep (duration, stages of sleep, every single time you wake up during the night, no matter how short), the mobile app includes what I can only call training programs that are intended to help you improve your sleep yourself. These range from the introductory "this is how to use the headband" to a full-fledged CBT course. - Small improvements: The app has a sleep routine feature that reminds you with a mobile notification when it's time to go to bed and automatically sets the alarm in the morning. The alarm sound is produced by a bone conduction speaker embedded in the headset. You can allow the headset to wake you early and if you do so, it will try to find the least disruptive time to wake you within the allowed period. Finally, it can play various sounds through the speaker to help you get to sleep, both ambient sounds (e.g. birds, waves, rain etc.) and guided-meditation type stuff. > Keep in mind that all I want in the end is to have the numbers of when I was asleep, and when I was not. My goal being to have a graph of those numbers to see when I actually sleep. (eg. how much do my sleep times drift every day, how much do i sleep per week, etc) For regular sleep at night it will do that perfectly. For random naps and dozing during the day, it won't be any help at all. However the app is integrated with Apple Health, so if you wear something else that can detect those short dozes during the day, you can unite the two devices there.

mistermann 7y ago

I'd never heard of these before and would also be interested in any additional details you might have on how well it's worked for you, or any recommended ~trustworthy websites that have writeups on this kind of technology.

Youden 7y ago
I'm not aware on websites with trustworthy writeups, I think the technology is too new. It's essentially all press releases and marketing pages. I elaborated a bit on what the headset does here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22015098 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22015098 As for how well it's worked, the biggest benefit for me so far is that it accurately informs me about how well I'm sleeping. Not just how long but also the quality of that sleep. That helps me control my otherwise eternally drifting bed times. Aside from that, I appreciate the alarm clock function. It generally works as advertised and wakes me while I'm in a light stage of sleep. Something I've been meaning to do is a poor man's study of various things that affect sleep, like light, ventilation, doing a calming activity before bed and that kind of thing.
- mistermann 7y ago
  > As for how well it's worked, the biggest benefit for me so far is that it accurately informs me about how well I'm sleeping. Not just how long but also the quality of that sleep. In your experience so far does the machine's indication of the quality of sleep ~unmistakably correspond with how you "feel" your sleep is? I assume the answer is yes, but I guess I'm more interested in the magnitude of how helpful you think the device is. It's not cheap, but if it does seem to really deliver results, it's not all that pricey that I'd exclude giving it a experimental spin based on cost.
  - Youden 7y ago
    When the headband indicates that I had bad sleep, it always matches how rested I feel. When the headband indicates that I had good sleep, it doesn't necessarily match how rested I feel. However I don't think the latter point is because the device is giving me bad readings. If you don't _consistently_ get enough high-quality sleep, you won't feel well rested.