New bed sensor to track weight, sleep quality

A British startup company that offers fitness training plans based on your DNA is launching a Kickstarter campaign to crowdfund its latest innovation: a bed scale and tracker.

A British startup company that offers fitness training plans based on your DNA is launching a Kickstarter campaign to crowdfund its latest innovation: a bed scale and tracker.
While fans of the quantified self can track their sleep with wearable devices such as Fibit, Jawbone UP, or Nike's new FuelBand SE, or via apps with their smartphone tucked under their pillow, Genetrainer has developed a new concept: sensors placed under the legs of a bed that track your movements throughout the night.

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Announced Thursday at the Demo conference in Silicon Valley, California, the device -- called Bed Scales -- can sense your sleep cycle, measure your weight changes while you're sleeping, and wake you up during a period of light sleep so you won't feel groggy. The upside is that the device is unobtrusive and you won't need to wear anything. Downside: the technology, for now, doesn't work as well when there are two people in the bed.

Another competitor is Beddit's ultrathin Bluetooth sensor sleep tracker, which will soon start shipping after a successful crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo. To use Beddit, users slip the thin tape-like sensors under a bed sheet to track sleep quality, heart rate, breathing rhythm, movement, sleep stages, snoring, and sleeping environment, such as noise level and light. Meanwhile, Jawbone's UP recently launched a new platform with 10 integrated apps, including Sleepio, a UK-based online sleep enhancement program that uses cognitive behavioral therapy, such as progressive relaxation and thought blocking, to boost your slumber.