A new smart mattress announced this week at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas promises to aid sleep by using “advanced temperature technology”. But could something like this really be the answer to the nation’s sleep problems?

There’s no denying that the UK is in the midst of a tiredness epidemic. Up and down the country, sleep deprivation continues to be a problem for a huge number of us, with nearly 16 million adults across the UK dealing with insomnia. According to a recent survey, over 30% of women get just 6.5 hours of sleep a night – a number below the seven to nine hours recommended by health experts.

It’s clear that we have a problem – but solving it isn’t exactly straightforward. Despite experts developing a number of new techniques, products and supplements designed to give us a good night’s sleep, many of us still struggle to achieve the coveted seven to nine hours we so desperately need.

So, with all this considered, what’s the answer? According to a new innovation unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, the future could lie in sleep tech. 

Sleep Number – an American company specialising in all things beds, bedding and sleep – took to the stage at CES on Tuesday to announce their latest invention, the Climate360 mattress, which allows sleepers to control the temperature on their side of the bed.

Equipped with both heating and cooling functions to help promote good sleep, the bed is the first of its kind, using “advanced temperature technology” to create a “responsive microclimate” for each individual sleeper. Designed to help people “fall asleep faster and stay asleep,” the mattress is able to adjust its temperature throughout the night with it’s evaporative cooling process and active heating systems. Basically, it’s the stuff of the future.

As you can expect, this thing does not come cheap: it retails at $7,999. And while we’re not planning on investing on something like this anytime sooner (for obvious reasons), it does raise questions about the future of our sleep. Could something like the Climate360 bed offer the solution we’re looking for?

There’s no denying that temperature plays an important role in the quality and duration of our sleep – it can control everything from how quickly we nod off to how rested we feel in the morning. Indeed, one of the most important parts of sleep – falling into it – is marked by a decrease in body temperature, meaning the cooler environment offered by this new smart mattress could actually help to facilitate that process.

“Ambient temperature certainly can disrupt sleep,” explains Christabel Majendie, resident sleep expert at Naturalmat. “If too hot, you may have more night awakenings, restless body movements and less REM sleep. If too cold it can be difficult to drop off to sleep. So a bed that regulates individual temperature, in theory, could help with sleep where people sharing a bed have different temperature requirements.”

It’s a win-win situation for people who want to sleep with their partner but control their sleeping environment – especially as some are proven to sleep better when they share a bed.

While we may not have the budget to rush off and grab ourselves a Climate360 mattress, it’s interesting to consider how big of a role temperature plays in our sleep – and think about a future where technology can solve these problems for us. 

Images: Getty/Sleep Number

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