Bloomberg Businessweek Europe - 19.08.2019

THEONE Bloomberg Pursuits August 19 2019 ,

Create abetter w e-up routine witak h a smar ter,

more soothing alarm.Photograph by Will Anderson

Modern life’s
ability to disrupt
ourcircadian
rhythms—whether
with blue light from
our devices orjet
lag—has spurred
a cott age industry
of alarm clocks
that aim toprovide
inconsistent sleepers
with a measure of
control. Philips’s
touch-sensitive
SmartSleep light
($200)mimics
natural light patt erns
to easeyou into and
outof a restfu l state.
To simulate dawn,
LEDs glow fr om red
to orange to yellow

THE COMPETITION

• Lumie’s Bodyclock
  Active 250
  ($125) uses an
  incandescentbulb
  to mimic sunrise
  and sunset f or 15 to
  90 minutes. It has
  sound eff ects, a lamp
  th at canbe dimmed,
  power backup, and
  a display that shuts
  off completely.


• In Januarymattress
  industrydisruptor
  Casper intr oduced
  the $129 Glow,which
  skips the display
  entirely. An internal
  gyroscope adjusts
  its brightness based
  on whetheryou
  twist, wiggle, or
  shakethe device.


• The $99 Illumy is
  an app -controlled
  sleepmask with
  integrated lights
  that letsyou cr eate
  your own sunrise or
  sunset. Italso has a
  feature usinglight
  pulses to helpshift
  brain wa ves into
  a morerelaxed—or
  alert—stat e.

THE C ASE

Remarkably simple

to use, SmartSleep

light provides a wide

range of options

to customize your

nightly r outine.

Touch the home

button, and it opens

up into fiv e icons,

which include

onesfor an alarm

bell, brightness,

andsound. Even

better, y ou can set

the str ength of

the wak e-up light

to your preferred

intensity of dawn.

And though most

“smart” gizmos that

comewith aton of

settings ar e anything

but, this one will

actuallyget y our

devices out of the

bedroom, making

it easier torest

easy. If not ,you can

snoozeforninemore

minutesby t apping

the top.From $200;

usa.philips.com

over thecourse

of 30 minutes,

culminating in y our

choice of FM radio,

nature sounds,or

ambientmusic that

gradually incr eases

in v olume. A t night,

a sunset setting

reverses the color

rangeto pr epare you

for bed. A connected

version works with

the companion

SleepMapper app

with a built -in sensor

to tr ack humidity,

temperature,

andsoundand

light levels.

00

AtAtaalmmlmost

9 inches t i all,

st andshhigigher

ththananyyour

avavereagealalarmm

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