SOS: Can technology save our sleep?

"Body as Media" by Steve Jervetson (2010). (CC BY 2.0)
Kinds of consumer sleep technology (CST)
Mobile apps
These are the programs you download to your portable devices that serve some sleep-related goal.
Computer software
These are tools and programs you install on your computer to help with some aspect of sleep.
Wearable monitors
As the name suggests, these are gadgets you wear somewhere on the body to measure certain pre-set metrics.
Furniture and appliances
Beds, pillows, clocks, lights, fans, and other kinds of household objects that are built with sleep in mind.
Is this thing on? Questions about functionality and utility
SHC hopes to answer some questions about how these products work, how reliable they are in doing their purported functions, and whether the goals of these forms of CST have any practical application.
The science behind consumer sleep technologies
How do these things work, anyway? SHC aims to explain the science behind these tools in layman’s terms.
Rules of engagement: How to be a cautious consumer
The application of any sort of technology has an ethical component. What is to be gained in using it? What is put at risk? Because these are direct-to-consumer products that anyone can purchase, being a discerning shopper demands answers to questions about the value of any of these technologies, as well as their potential down sides.
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