Tickle me asleep

When snoring becomes loud robot raises its paw, gently touches sleeper’s face to trigger change of sleeping position.

Demonstrated during this month’s International Robot Exhibition (IREX) in Tokyo, Jukusui-Kun is a polar bear-shaped robotic pillow. It’s cute and cuddly exterior might belie its serious purpose: Jukusui-Kun is designed to help snorers and those who live with them. Whenever snoring becomes too loud (and sleep apnea becomes a danger), the robot raises its paw and gently touches the sleeper’s face to trigger a change of sleeping position.

While we’ve seen numerous treatments for sleep apnea, such as anti-snoring pillows and even smartphone apps, Jukusui-Kun is arguably the first and only anti-snoring robot.

As well as being quite irritating for family members, snoring might be a sign of sleep apnea — pauses in breathing which can be potentially dangerous. The condition is associated with blood oxygen saturation and can trigger up to a ten second break in breathing. It can cause and worsen other medical conditions, including hypertension, heart failure, and diabetes.

The toy-like robot is actually geared to scientifically deal with the snoring subject. It works with a pulse-oxygen metre attached to the sleeper’s hand, which tracks the amount of oxygen in the blood. It’s wirelessly connected to a terminal that analyzes the data and remotely controls the bear. There’s also a microphone hidden inside the pillow which measures the level of noise caused by snoring.

When the oxygen level drops and noise increases at the same time, Jukusui-Kun slowly and gently raises its paw to brush the face of the patient, thus causing a change of position without waking. This change in sleeping position from the back to the side encourages a snoreless night.

Jukusui-Kun, which means “deep sleep” in Japanese, was developed by researchers from Tokyo’s Waseda University. There are no plans to introduce a commercial version at this stage.

Source: gizmag.com

Published in The Express Tribune, December 3^rd, 2011.