It uses ballistocardiography (BCG) to measure the mechanical activity of the heart, lungs, and other body functions, a non-invasive monitoring technology that's similar to the light-based photoplethysmography the Apple Watch uses to monitor heart rate. Apple could be planning to use the data it's collected to add more advanced health tracking and sleep monitoring into the Apple Watch, or it could roll the technology into some other kind of wearable device or hardware product similar in design to the Beddit 3. With the Beddit 3 Sleep Monitor no longer available, it's not known what Apple will do with the Beddit sleep technology in the future. Since the Apple acquisition, the device has only been sold at and is not available elsewhere either. When an Apple product is sold out, that typically means it's not going to be restocked. It was an unusual acquisition because Apple continued to sell the company's Beddit 3 Sleep Monitor on, and collected sleep data from the device.Īs of early October, though, the Beddit 3 Sleep Monitor has been listed as "Sold Out" on Apple's website, suggesting it has perhaps been quietly retired. As an Apple Watch owner, that has been one thing I wish I had, but I also had no desire to wear that thing to bed every night (even if the battery could last that long) -a sleep sensor that’s mounted to the bed solves the problem without needing to wear something every night.Apple in May purchased Beddit, a company that develops health-related hardware. If you’re missing this data, then the Beddit Smart Sleep Monitor is an effective way to get it. If you’ve already bought into the idea that tracking data is a good way to take control of your overall health and fitness, then you’ll know that sleep data is an important part of the big picture. There is also a gentle alarm function on the Beddit app, but I have a dog who performs that function quite nicely, so I didn’t really use it. For example, without fail, any time I had a few glasses of wine or a few beers shortly before bed, the Beddit recorded several hours of snoring and an elevated resting heart rate. And I’ve also discovered some very interesting details about my sleep that I had no idea of before. The rest of the data is generally consistent enough that it doesn't raise any eyebrows. The data collected by the Beddit Smart Sleep Monitor seems accurate -at least things I can verify like getting out of bed at night or having a particularly restless night are confirmed the next day in its readings. I share a Queen size bed with my wife and had no issue with false readings. The sensor is so thin that with a sheet over it, I can’t feel it at all. Maybe I got lucky and maybe I don’t move around that much in my sleep, but I positioned it correctly the first time and after a full month of using it, I haven’t had a single glitch. I had read a few reviews in the past where correct positioning of the Beddit sensor strip was a challenge. It’s possible a future version of the app may offer an alternative option, but for now it seems as though there is nothing to be worried about (unless you already sleep with a tin foil hat on, in which case you're not going to like this). The microphone is used as a sensor in conjunction with the piezo electric strip, to correlate the readings we get from the Beddit sensor with the sound produced by snoring. The paranoid in me wondered about the wisdom of leaving my iPhone on all night, with an app granted access to its microphone. That’s not optional.īeddit app requires microphone access (Credit: screen capture Brad Moon) When I set up my iPhone, the Beddit app required access to the microphone. I had another question for Beddit when it comes to data sharing. Users of iOS devices can share the data collected by Beddit with Apple’s Health app, filling out a more complete picture of their overall health and fitness. From the website, you can export data as an Excel file (although a bug in the feature prevented me from testing it). The response boiled down to the device being capable of tracking variations in heart rate, but because spikes can cause confusion and because Beddit is sold as a health and fitness device (not a medical device), the focus is on average resting heart rate -which is a good indicator of overall health.īecause sleep data is one key element in tracking your overall health and fitness, it really helps if this data doesn’t exist only in isolation. I asked a Beddit representative about whether heart rate data is available in greater granularity. The Apple Watch app also lets a wearer track naps and integrates those quick snoozes into their overall SleepScore. Beddit app display showing detailed graphs (Credit: Beddit)
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