PROVIDENCE, R.I., April 14 (UPI) -- A group of college students in Rhode Island have turned their wish for a good night's sleep into a potential new product -- an alarm clock tuned in to the sleep cycle.
The SleepSmart clock was inspired by one student's complaints of waking up groggy, New Scientist reports. His friends decided his problem was being awaked during the wrong phase of sleep.
"As sleep-deprived people ourselves, we started thinking of what to do about it," says Eric Shashoua, a Brown graduate and now chief executive officer of Axon Sleep Research Laboratories.
People go through three phases of sleep, light, heavy and REM or dream sleep, in a 90-minute cycle. Those who are waked from light sleep are much more likely to be perky and ready to face the world.
The SleepSmart used a headband equipped with electrodes to monitor the sleeper, who has programmed it with the latest wakeup time. It is designed to give the wake up call during the last phase of light sleep before the desired time.
Shashoua and his colleagues hope to be ready to go to market next year.
