Relaxing and restorative rest is essential; this new system redesigns and continuously optimizes the sleep experience.
BY DOUGLAS WEINSTEIN
SLEEP IS A VITAL PILLAR in any healthy environmental discussion. In the past, readers of our magazine have heard us discuss the many benefits of biophilic design and the performance home – specifically lighting that mimics circadian rhythm, automated shading that harvests natural light, thermal and clean air strategies, as well as design methodologies of homes in general. We’ve also highlighted how interior designers are able to work with technologists to amplify and enhance interiors to create intuitive and welcoming spaces.
All these innovations are really about responsible building and giving the homeowner a healthy environment, considering how much time we spend in our homes. Why? To allow for restorative rest and relaxation, and enable a tranquil, optimal sleep setup.
UC-Berkeley neuroscience and psychology Professor Matthew Walker is the author of The New York Times bestseller Why We Sleep and the founder and director of the Center for Human Sleep Science. To date, he has published more than 100 scientific research studies. In his research, he examined the impact of sleep on human brain function in healthy and diseased populations.
“After thirty years of intensive sleep research, we’ve found that the leading causes of disease and death in developed nations—diseases that are crippling health-care systems such as heart disease, obesity, dementia, diabetes, and cancer—all have recognized causal links to a lack of sleep,” said Dr. Walker. “The number of sleep cycles, the duration of sleep, and when sleep occurs have all been comprehensively distorted by modernity. Humans are not sleeping the way nature intended. Sleep is the chief nourisher in life’s feast, and we are sorely deprived in this banquet.”
“Sleep is the chief nourisher in life’s feast, and we are sorely deprived in this banquet.”
Professor Matthew Walker
On October 31, 2019, Science published a Boston University research study suggesting that while we sleep, something totally amazing is happening to our brains. First, your neurons go quiet and then blood will flow out of your head. Then, a watery liquid – called cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) – will flow in and wash through your brain in rhythmic, pulsing waves.
“We’ve known for a while that there are these electrical waves of activity in the neurons,” says study co-author Laura Lewis, a BU College of Engineering assistant professor of biomedical engineering and a Center for Systems Neuroscience faculty member. “But before now, we didn’t realize that there are actually waves in the CSF, too.”
Earlier studies suggested this slow-wave activity of CSF helps flush toxic, memory-impairing proteins from the brain. It appears these processes might be tied together, and could be an evolutionary adaptation designed to literally clean our heads out every night.
The human body needs eight solid hours of sleep each night for a myriad of reasons – not the least of which being to clean our heads out. Backing this new research are additional quantum advances in sleep science.
BRYTE Bed
Recently, it dawned on us that we hadn’t reported on the one place we spend nearly a third of our life: our beds. How is technology shaping the beds of tonight and tomorrow? Here in the heart of Silicon Valley, the BRYTE Bed aims to disrupt the industry while minimizing sleep disruptions, harnessing the power of AI and analytics.
“Everyone’s sleep needs are unique and change throughout the night, the year, and over multiple years, and yet nothing on the market addresses this. Now is the time to meet this huge need by integrating AI, sleep science, and the latest bed technologies into a totally new sleep experience,” says BRYTE CEO John Tompane. “We are reinventing how we sleep. Like Tesla, Apple, and Nest, we reimagined an everyday, taken-for-granted commodity into an entirely new platform — transforming it into a seamless, intuitive experience that will have a meaningful impact on the industry, people’s sleep, and their lives.”
Temperature, relaxation techniques, and light all impact your body’s readiness for sleep. Controlling these aspects of your sleep environment can reduce cortisol and stimulate melatonin release (part of your circadian rhythm), to help you fall asleep faster.
Warming your core body temperature naturally lifts the body’s circadian rhythm out of sleep. Bright light helps wake you naturally by suppressing melatonin in the morning, which increases cortisol and further energizes you. When you wake naturally, before your alarm, you feel more refreshed and energized.
Governing sleep patterns via temperature and light is not new science; it harkens back to the natural human state when our ancestors woke to the warmth and natural rising of the sun. The BRYTE Bed’s temperature algorithms are based on the latest sleep research and also help enhance and improve deep sleep.
Deep Sleep, also known as “slow-wave sleep”, is the restorative state of sleep where our bodies “relax” into their default mode of functioning, and when the CSF comes in literal waves. It’s an active, deliberate, synchronous state of brain activity. Think of it as a cerebral meditation that provides mental and physical benefits for your brain and body.
BRYTE Bed’s embedded dynamic technology facilitate slow-wave, lulling you to sleep and adjusting individual coils throughout the night so you wake less and remain in a state of deep sleep for extended periods versus traditional mattresses.
The folks at BRYTE have put together sales programs for interior designers and technology designers interested in marketing their breakthrough sleep system to their own clients. We recommend getting in touch with the folks at BRYTE for more information.
