back to article Taking a look at Luna: the smart bed that knows your sleep secrets

If you've not been to San Francisco's SoMA (South of Market) district for a while, it may come as a shock. In the underpass where drug addicts once gathered in force, you will now find astroturf and food trucks; the pile of battered shopping carts replaced by cocktail tables. Walking down 2nd street used to involve …

  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Presumably your radio/TV/music player would have to be in the loop so Luna didn't mistake them for you talking in your sleep?

    Surprised if people still get out of bed to do anything with lights. Bedside lamps have been usual for decades.

    It is obviously useful for the alarm not to interrupt deep sleep - or even to pre-empt you entering that phase too late. My alarm wakes me about once in three months if I've had a particularly late night - otherwise I'm usually awake before it would go off.

    1. BillG
      Joke

      Bassi is keen to point out that the raw data is stored on the local device and only aggregate, general data is encrypted and transmitted.

      Ha ha ha ha ha!

      Likewise, he assures us that the microphone is only able to tell if there is noise or not: it can't tell what you are saying

      ...he said with an evil laugh.

      1. frank ly

        @BillG

        A person might say something in their sleep that indicates they should be subject to further observation, so it's important that the NSA/GCHQ/etc can collect the sound recordings.

        Similarly, disturbed sleep of a particular pattern could indicate serious health problems, so this should be used to unlock the door to allow access to emergency services responders, paticularly for older people or people who live alone.

        All this would be subject to appropriate oversight of privacy and personal security considerations of course.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: @BillG

          Yet another solution looking for a problem!

    2. Michael Wojcik Silver badge

      It is obviously useful for the alarm not to interrupt deep sleep

      I suppose, depending on the individual's sleep patterns and possible sleep pathologies. For many people this is probably so minor an issue that the benefit of addressing it is negligible.

      But we already have a solution for this problem, and it doesn't require surveillance: gentle-wake alarm clocks. My wife's had one of the Phillips ones for a year or so now, and it works very nicely. The light comes on dimly about half an hour before the wake time and slowly brightens. The alarm sound (she has hers set to birdsong) similarly starts at a low volume, at the wake time, and gradually gets louder. We never wake up in the dark anymore, and the increasing light does an excellent job of easing us out of deep sleep.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Trope dead ahead

    "So, for example, we can tell when you have got into bed and run a check that your door is locked," Massimo says by way of explaining the possibilities. "If it is, then nothing happens, but if it is unlocked, we could either provide an alert or tell the smart-lock to lock itself."

    We all know how this movie ends.

    1. Mark 85

      Re: Trope dead ahead

      When you go to lock the door, never say, "I'll be right back." bwahahahahha

  3. Mark 85

    IoT stuff...again?

    "So, for example, we can tell when you have got into bed and run a check that your door is locked," Massimo says by way of explaining the possibilities. "If it is, then nothing happens, but if it is unlocked, we could either provide an alert or tell the smart-lock to lock itself."

    I'd like to believe that when he says "we can tell" that he means the bed and not wherever any info maybe sent. Nothing like knowing that a bit of rumpty-rump or an afternoon nap gets sent somewhere for whatever purpose other than bed function.

  4. Zog_but_not_the_first
    Thumb Up

    Fully compliant, utterly useless

    Another fully compliant piece of technology as defined by DLB* criteria.

    * DLB as in "Why does a dog lick his bollocks?" "Because he can"

  5. Michael Wojcik Silver badge

    That foundation is smart-tech. The inter-twining of hardware and software to make people's lives better.

    Oh god, I'm going to be ill.

    You know what makes my life better? Less unnecessary complexity in the basic technology I use around the house. Less surveillance. Fewer devices trying to do things for me, based on some half-assed model of my expectations. My current bed does exactly what I expect, all the time. So do my lights and door locks.

    Incidentally, here's a tip for Kieren and the "smart-tech" snake oil vendors: software has always been "inter-twined" with hardware. It doesn't do a hell of a lot on its own.

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