Close overnight monitoring in medical laboratories can provide a clear assessment of sleep quality. Although wrist tracking devices are a more feasible solution, for ordinary people, these devices do not provide nearly the same level of accuracy Chinese scientists have developed a smart pillow, which aims to swim between the two sleep tracking solutions, monitor the quality of rest through head movement, and provide power for the system
This self powered smart pillow comes from the early work of scientists in the sleep monitoring system, which tracks movement and collects energy through three electric nano generators (Tengs) at night. These systems convert friction and mechanical energy into electrical energy. Because they can use the energy of the moving body, they are at the forefront of wearable device research.
In the field of sleep monitoring, these generators have entered into eye masks and bed sheets. However, the creators of the new smart pillow are looking for a less restrictive solution that will not affect the comfort of users. The pillow is characterized by several groups of flexible and porous polymer three electric layers, which generate current when the head moves. These are placed on an ordinary pillow and generate voltage according to the applied pressure.
Tests show that the pillow can track the pressure distribution of a dummy head because it changes its position, and it has proved to be sensitive enough to even track the movement of a finger. Although designed to track sleep quality, scientists envision that the self powered pillow could find other uses, including monitoring patients with neck diseases or as an early warning system for people who are prone to falling out of bed.
The study was published in the journal ACS applied materials and interfaces.