https://hello.is

Anybody getting it? I missed it on Kickstarter, where it raised 2,400% of its goal!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hello/sense-know-more-sleep-better

I am wondering if I should wait for version 2.0 to come out, which would have all the kinks worked out, not that I know for sure it will have kinks as it has not been delivered to anybody yet, but usually such gizmos have kinks.

Is it worth what they are charging for it?

9/15/2014 2:49:50 AM

eh, i'm not convinced that this will do a much better job than my fitbit already does...and in some ways, i think the fitbit is better

it's great that you don't have to wear the tracker (their "sleep pill"), but i wonder how well clipping it to the pillow will work...for example, if i get up in the middle of the night to pee, my fitbit records that as "awake"...how will the clip know i got up? i guess that's the purpose of the device that sits on your nightstand? does it "sense" that i got up? and then there's the fact that i move my pillow around all the time (fluff it up, sleep on my side, stomach, back, whatever)

i think that if fitbit further developed their app to do the nighttime tracking (ambient light, noise, etc) using your phone, it would be better, cheaper (maybe), and multifunctional

in any case, i track my sleep as a fun data collection exercise, not because i have trouble sleeping or (currently) need something to help improve my sleep

[Edited on September 15, 2014 at 9:30 AM. Reason : .]

9/15/2014 9:28:58 AM

aren't there dedicated sleeping apps that already do all of that ^? you just put the phone under your pillow and it tracks all of your movements and cycles and also uses your sleep cycle to gently wake you up with the alarm.

9/15/2014 10:07:35 AM

^ at one point, i tried just about every sleep app for android that was rated 4 stars or better and they were all pretty useless for ME...they might work well for some people, but i move around quite a bit at night (even though i believe i sleep just fine) and my phone would be in any number of places, none of which were still under my pillow

even then, it seems to me it can't be nearly as good as one that's attached to your body (ie. fitbit)...i figure variances in mattresses and partner movements would introduce too many variables to be very accurate

regarding the phone, i just meant that an app on your phone could do what the little globe on the nightstand does: track ambient light, listen for noises, gradually wake you up...pair that with the fitbit and it seems that you'd get the same functionality with similar accuracy

if a person is having trouble sleeping, there's only so much you can do in a relatively uncontrolled environment...identifying potential issues (too much light or noise) will probably help, but i suspect most sleep issues are physiological (stress, weight, exercise, etc)

like i said, i use my fitbit's sleep tracking function for fun more than anything else...i don't believe i'd pay for a device like this, especially if fitbit (or another app developer who could use the fitbit's data) would make an app for my phone

9/15/2014 10:36:34 AM