This phone app tells you how well you slept -- or not.
Bangalore, September 17 2018:How many of us can honestly say we enjoy a good night's sleep -- regularly? There's the neighbourhood noise and the polluted air -- and then there are the worries and tensions of our own lives. Shakespeare called sleep the 'balm of hurt minds' -- it's a balm we could really use.
A young Indian researcher at the University of Washington in the US -- and the winner last week, of the Marconi Young Scholar Award -- Rajalakshmi Nandakumar -- has been researching sleep and the disorder known as sleep apnea for 5 years. Apnea solutions involved strapping on sensors and connecting wires -- till now.
Rajalakshmi has created what is arguably the first contactless solution: and she did it using a smartphone and its loudspeaker system, to beam inaudible sound signals at the sleeping subject, much like a sonar system to detect activities like movement and respiration. The result of her PhD work has been licensed to a medical solutions company, ResMed, who have put out a free app "SleepScore" for Android and iPhone that helps individuals to monitor their sleep quality. It's not a cure in itself -- but it's a first step to sound sleep. Sweet dreams!