D12| Saturday/Sunday, March 28 - 29, 2020 **** THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
I was intrigued by the Ebb($499,
ebbsleep.com), a headband device
that was developed specifically for
bedtime worriers. Research sug-
gests that overactive minds have
more brain activity in the frontal
cortex—in studies, scans on this
part of their brains appear
“warmer.” The Ebb pumps fluid into
its “cooling comfort band” that
swaddles your crown to dial down
forehead temperatures, helping you
doze off faster. I didn’t love being
tethered to its console by a giant
cord, but the chilly band proved
calming, like it was freezing out any
thoughts that were scheming to sab-
otage my sleep.
Headbands that track brainsensors detect you’re in deep
sleep. The brand’s research sug-
gests that boosting brain waves
this way can improve cognitive
function during the day, potentially
combating the brain fog people ex-
perience when sleep is cut short.
As a side sleeper, I found the
band’s speakers dug into my skull
and, though I did nod off, I barely
waited until the crack of dawn to
claw the thing off. Still, the device
seems to have fooled my brain: I
moved through my day’s routine
with a surprising amount of pep.
With molded eye cups that didn’t
let in even a sliver of light, Manta’s
Blackout Mask($35,
store.moma.org)is a modern up-I
’VE NEVER HADto get too
creative to combat insom-
nia—a cup of hot tea, a
warm bath, curling up with
a dense 19th-century text
that would lull me into uncon-
sciousness. But lately, my go-tos
couldn’t quell the anxiety triggered
by calamitous news updates. It sud-
denly felt like getting a good night’s
rest was overly ambitious. Fortu-
nately for members of the racing-
thoughts club, a new generation of
high-tech sleep bands and masks
aims to offer more personalized so-
lutions to sleeplessness, literally
tackling it head on.BYMAGDALENAPUNIEWSKAnects to the chic control unit that’s
small enough to slip under your bed
to help program nightly sleep sched-
ules—maybe you like it warm when
you first slip between the sheets and
cooler as you doze through the night.
You can buy the OOLER for any size
of mattress and any relationship sta-
tus, too, with one temperature zone
for single sleepers or two for cou-
ples.OOLER Sleep System, from
$699, chilitechnology.comConsider this a wake-up call: Water
beds are making a comeback. No
longer the sea-sickness-inducing nov-
elty made popular in the 1970s and
80s, the Chili’s OOLER mattress top-
per is embedded with silicone micro-
tubing that fills with water to heat
or cool the flexible machine-wash-
able pad from between 55 to 115 de-
grees. Its corresponding app con-Make Fewer Waves
waves via electroencephalography
(EEG), aspire to function like at-
home sleep labs, but without the
cords. Philip’s SmartSleep Deep
Sleep($400, usa.philips.com)aims
to optimize slumber for those who
get six hours or less by playing a
low frequency tone once its EEGHigh-tech headbands claim to make ZZZs easier to come by. But will you lose sleep trying to figure them out?
Quiet Your Noggin at Night
UrgoNight helps retrain brainwaves.Designed to lull little ones—particu-
larly those in the first 3 months of
life—to sleep with its pacifying
sound, the Baby Shusher is more
than a white-noise machine. It’s a
sanity saver for stressed and ex-
hausted new moms and dads who’ve
been dreaming skeptically of catch-
ing a few ZZZZs themselves. Captur-
ing the breathy tones of a real hu-
man, the Shusher entrances infants
with rhythmic, repetitive hushing
when no amount of rocking will
soothe them. It comes with a strap
so you can wear it while holding
your child or hang the Shusher from
a newborn’s bassinet or crib post.
With 15- and 30-minute timer op-
tions, this battery-operated device
promises to quiet even the most re-
sistant, sleep-deprived kiddos.$35,
babyshusher.comHush Little Baby,
Don’t You Cry
We don’t know about you, but we’re
tired of waking abruptly to the shrill
sound of our iPhone’s alarm. Intro-
ducing the Hatch Restore, a more
talented bedside buddy that nudges
you out of slumber with a gradually
brightening sunrise alarm clock, but
also eases you into sleep the night
before by functioning as a warm-Fade In
grade on standard sleep head gear.
But the heavier, high-tech Dream-
light Heat($69, dreamlight.tech),
which shut out the world and lulled
me into a meditative state, proved
more enticing. It issues guided ses-
sions (via its speakers) and pulses of
orange light, meant to be relaxing. I
couldn’t sleep as the throbbing glare
penetrated my lids, but I could see
using this device as a pre-bed ritual.
Some brands are catching on to
the fact that a lot of people hate be-
ing encumbered by anything, evenclothing, when they sleep. That’s
why the UrgoNight headgear($500,
urgonight.com)is designed to be
worn during the day only for about
20 minutes, three times per week.
Its premise: If you can train your
noggin to turn out the right brain
waves by day, that production will
yield sleep-promoting waves at
night. While wearing the rigid plas-
tic band, I watched animated jelly-
fish float across the screen—any
time I produced the coveted brain
waves, one disappeared. After com-
pleting each of the exercises, I re-
ceived a cryptic score. It was un-
clear whether it was my ability to
focus or to relax that was earning
me marks. Turns out it can take five
sessions to figure out your “wave
boosting strategy” and 40 before
you see changes—not the right tool
if you’d like snooze support ASAP.
Even the snazziest gadgets can be
counterproductive, said Dr. Seema
Khosla, M.D., chair of the American
Academy of Sleep Medicine’s Tech-
nology Committee: “I’ve seen pa-
tients get so worried about what
their sleep data is going to be that
they actually end up having trouble
falling asleep.” And unfortunately,
headgear can’t make up for bad hab-
its, like scrolling news feeds before
bed. Plus, it can take a few days to
get used to going to bed with a
head-bound device, and the time
spent making 2 a.m. adjustments
and fidgeting might be more disrup-
tive. Will tech replace my tea? I’ll
have to sleep on it.Bands that track brain
waves aspire to function34 like at-home sleep labs.
3836hued reading light and cooing
soothing sleep sounds like white
noise and rushing water. All
these skills are contained in one
aesthetically inoffensive domed
device. Personalize your night-
time routine via its corresponding
app or go screen-free by using in-
tuitive buttons built into Hatch
Restore that customize how you
fall asleep, stay asleep and wake
refreshed.Hatch Restore, avail-
able in May, $130, hatch.co3735CHRIS GASH
GEAR & GADGETS
To dull the bedtime cacophony of a
wheezing partner or squabbling in-
somniac neighbors, former Nokia en-
gineers Janne Kyllönen and Matti
Nisula created the world’s smallest
active-noise-canceling ear plugs. Qui-
etOn’s buds use tiny microphones to
pinpoint annoying tones and smartly
respond to reduce noise across the
audible spectrum. The designers ana-
lyzed various ear anatomies to find
an ideal shape so even side sleepers
can get a peaceful rest—up to 20
hours per charge.$240, quieton.comGive Peace
A Chance
ENZO PÉRÈS-LABOURDETTE (ILLUSTRATION); F. MARTIN RAMIN/THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, STYLING BY ANNE CARDENAS (HATCH LIGHT, SHUSHER, EAR PLUGS)