Eight Sleep unveils The Pod, a bed that’s smarter about temperature

Smart mattress company Eight Sleep is announcing its newest product today, The Pod. Co-founder and CEO Matteo Franceschetti described it, succinctly, as “Nest for your bed.”

Eight has been focused on bed temperature for a while, first by offering a smart mattress cover and then a smart mattress that allows owners to adjust the surface temperature and even set different temperatures for different sides of the bed. But The Pod goes even further, with a smart temperature mode that will change bed temperature throughout the night to improve your sleep.
“Our vision is to use technology to personalize the environment while you’re unconscious and asleep,” Franceschetti said. “The biggest factor in the environment is temperature. The reason is … your body temperature changes during the night. If you sleep in an environment with a flat and stable temperature, you’re clearly going to feel hot or cold.”
When it comes to adjusting temperature for better sleep, Franceschetti argued that The Pod will be more effective than a smart thermometer, because it reacts to your behavior and is in direct contact with your body.
So The Pod will cool down so that you can fall asleep more quickly and sleep more soundly. It can also use artificial intelligence and biofeedback sensors to determine the best temperature for you (anywhere from 55 to 115 degrees Fahrenheit) throughout the night, and adjust accordingly.

And there’s a “thermal alarm,” which will cool the bed in the minutes before you wake up — hopefully, you’ll be ready to wake up when your regular alarm goes off, or you can avoid the alarm in the first place.
The Pod is powered by The Hub, a device attached to the bed that essentially functions as its computer, connecting to Wi-Fi and also storing the water tank that’s used for changing the temperature.
“The most impressive new technologies for improving sleep and enabling sleep research are the instrumented beds being developed by Eight Sleep,” said Craig Heller, a biology professor at Stanford University and a member of the startup’s scientific advisory board, in a statement. “Their goal of modifying thermal environment using in-home data is a huge opportunity to advance sleep science.”
The Pod does offer other features besides temperature adjustment. Like previous Eight Sleep products, it also allows you to track your sleep and vitals over time, then offers sleep coaching tips. It also connects to other smart home products like Amazon Alexa and Philips Hue light bulbs. And the mattress is supposed to be pretty good too, with four layers of adaptive foam.
The Pod is currently available for preorder today, with pricing starting at $1,995 for a full bed and $2,195 for a queen. Eight Sleep says it will start shipping in April.
Source: TechCrunch