The Sleep Shepherd Blue - using binaural beats and EEG sensors to improve the quality of your sleep

25/02/2016

I really love my sleep, don't we all!? I used to be of the persuasion of “I’ll sleep when I’m dead!” Not anymore though, I see the value in a full nights rest. Quality matters too, and to restore and re-energize our bodies we need enough time in deep sleep, or Stage 3 as it’s known.

Deep sleep is important to aid us in feeling invigorated and alert when we wake up and throughout the day. Sadly, with the busy lives we live these days getting enough of this sleep can be hard to come by.

I have recently been excited to hear about a new gadget which is right down my alley, the Sleep Shepherd Blue. Phone apps and gadgets that monitor the quality of your sleep such as Sleep as Android have been around for a while and are really useful, but they don't do a huge amount to actively help you get a better nights rest. On the contrary, the Sleep Shepherd Blue actually uses binaural beats to improve your sleep, and most importantly help you get more of stage 3.

The clever device was invented by the innovative mechanical engineer Michael Larson after his daughter was diagnosed with a sleep disorder. Using Kickstarter, he managed to raise over $100k, very impressive considering he was only looking for $25k. Like many of us, when the doctor’s only recommendations for his daughter were pharmaceuticals he wanted to try and develop a tool that was more natural.

There are of course many existing recordings that play binaural beats in the frequency that aid sleep, but the big difference with this device is that it also monitors your sleep and adjusts the beats based on the feedback it gets from you. Plus, unlike most headphones, it can be comfortably worn during the night.

A feature that sounds really appealing to me is the alarm feature, it gradually lifts you out of sleep (when it senses you’re ready) by using binaural beats designed to make you more alert. Not only that but if it senses your brain waves speeding up toward wakefulness too early, it will play beats better designed to get you to a deeper sleep.

You can connect it to your smartphone too using the Sleep Shepherd Blue companion app, cleared for release in both Apple iTunes and Google Play.

With a price of between $119 and $199 it might be a tad pricey for some, but for those who really need it you can’t put a price on a good night’s sleep. Based on the feedback on Kickstarter there is clearly big demand for this product, and personally I can’t wait to get my hands on one!

You can read more about the Sleep Shepherd Blue on Kickstarter

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