Science & Tech News

This little ball has changed how I sleep – Sense, Sleep Pill

Posted by Ahmad Alhasan on

I just moved to a new apartment a little over a month ago.

For several weeks, I found it difficult to sleep in the new place. Our new apartment is right on top of a highway and it faces east, so noise, heat, and brightness are often trying to cut short my valuable shut-eye.

We’ve since modified the apartment to be less hot and noisy, but I’ve been able to monitor the bedroom environment, as well as my own sleeping habits, thanks to this beautiful little ball called Sense. Check it out.

Made by a San Francisco startup called Hello, Sense is simple to set up and use.

Made by a San Francisco startup called Hello, Sense is simple to set up and use.

Dave Smith/Tech Insider

Sense sits right next to your bed, either on the floor or on a nightstand, and stays plugged into an outlet at all times.

Sense sits right next to your bed, either on the floor or on a nightstand, and stays plugged into an outlet at all times.

Sense

To monitor your movement during the night, Sense also comes with a tiny Sleep Pill, a button the size of the quarter that clips onto the end of your pillow.

To monitor your movement during the night, Sense also comes with a tiny Sleep Pill, a button the size of the quarter that clips onto the end of your pillow.

Sense

The Sleep Pill doesn’t need to be recharged. It has a replaceable battery that lasts a full year.

The Sleep Pill doesn’t need to be recharged. It has a replaceable battery that lasts a full year.

Sense

Sense also works with two Sleep Pills, in case your partner wants to learn more about their sleep patterns. Having two pills also makes each one more accurate.

Sense also works with two Sleep Pills, in case your partner wants to learn more about their sleep patterns. Having two pills also makes each one more accurate.

Sense

When you turn off the lights and go to bed, you’ll see your Sense light up in one of three colors. Red means the conditions are poor for sleeping, green means the conditions are good, and yellow means it’s not quite right.

When you turn off the lights and go to bed, you’ll see your Sense light up in one of three colors. Red means the conditions are poor for sleeping, green means the conditions are good, and yellow means it’s not quite right.

Sense/Tech Insider

Here, my Sense glowed purple to show it was pairing to my phone and Sleep Pill.

Here, my Sense glowed purple to show it was pairing to my phone and Sleep Pill.

Dave Smith/Tech Insider

The Sense app can help you learn about the conditions in your room, and what you need to improve. There, you’ll see the current temperature, humidity, air quality, brightness, and noise level in your room.

The Sense app can help you learn about the conditions in your room, and what you need to improve. There, you’ll see the current temperature, humidity, air quality, brightness, and noise level in your room.

Dave Smith/Tech Insider

Each morning, you’ll be treated to a complete summary of your sleep last night. You can see when the lights went off, when you fell asleep, and any time you were moving around a lot in bed.

Each morning, you’ll be treated to a complete summary of your sleep last night. You can see when the lights went off, when you fell asleep, and any time you were moving around a lot in bed.

Dave Smith/Tech Insider

The app will also give you a full analysis of your sleep, including total time slept and total time in deep sleep.

The app will also give you a full analysis of your sleep, including total time slept and total time in deep sleep.

Dave Smith/Tech Insider

The main number to focus on is your Sleep Score (any number out of 100), which is based on the conditions of the bedroom and how well you slept.

The main number to focus on is your Sleep Score (any number out of 100), which is based on the conditions of the bedroom and how well you slept.

Dave Smith/Tech Insider

You can even see your Sleep Scores over the past week or month. Here, you can see I slept much better over the weekend.

You can even see your Sleep Scores over the past week or month. Here, you can see I slept much better over the weekend.

Dave Smith/Tech Insider

You can also see the average amount of time you’re sleeping each night, as well as how much of that sleep is in deep sleep, medium sleep, or light sleep.

You can also see the average amount of time you're sleeping each night, as well as how much of that sleep is in deep sleep, medium sleep, or light sleep.

Dave Smith/Tech Insider

The app also offers tips to improve your sleep quality, and statistics that compare your personal sleep data to everyone else who uses Sense.

The app also offers tips to improve your sleep quality, and statistics that compare your personal sleep data to everyone else who uses Sense.

Dave Smith/Tech Insider

The goal is to use this knowledge provided by Sense to make adjustments to your habits and environment and improve your Sleep Score.

The goal is to use this knowledge provided by Sense to make adjustments to your habits and environment and improve your Sleep Score.

Dave Smith/Tech Insider

Since Sense keeps track of your sleep cycles, you can actually program your Sense to wake you up during the lightest part of your sleep cycle to help you feel refreshed.

Since Sense keeps track of your sleep cycles, you can actually program your Sense to wake you up during the lightest part of your sleep cycle to help you feel refreshed.

Dave Smith/Tech Insider

These “Smart Alarms” are built right into the app and they play a custom alarm tone up to 30 minutes before your requested wake up time. When the alarm goes off, the Sense ball plays the tone and puts on a small light show. Just wave your hand over the Sense ball to turn off the alarm.

These “Smart Alarms” are built right into the app and they play a custom alarm tone up to 30 minutes before your requested wake up time. When the alarm goes off, the Sense ball plays the tone and puts on a small light show. Just wave your hand over the Sense ball to turn off the alarm.

Dave Smith/Tech Insider

I really dig Sense. It’s pretty to look at and easy to use — the app’s intuitive interface is one particular highlight.

I really dig Sense. It’s pretty to look at and easy to use — the app’s intuitive interface is one particular highlight.

Sense

It’s not perfect: For example, Sense can’t pick up on afternoon naps, though Hello’s CEO James Proud told Tech Insider that’s something they’re looking at for the future. That said, Sense is great at giving you insight into your sleeping habits, and even offers suggestions to improve your sleep. I really appreciate its constructive feedback.

It’s not perfect: For example, Sense can’t pick up on afternoon naps, though Hello’s CEO James Proud told Tech Insider that’s something they’re looking at for the future. That said, Sense is great at giving you insight into your sleeping habits, and even offers suggestions to improve your sleep. I really appreciate its constructive feedback.

Sense

It’s also great to see Sense continually improving. In a recent update, Sense gained the ability to distinguish noise disturbances from actual, full-on wake ups. Proud told us that Hello is very careful with what they add to Sense “because we want to make sure when we tell you something, that we are very certain that is what happened.”

It’s also great to see Sense continually improving. In a recent update, Sense gained the ability to distinguish noise disturbances from actual, full-on wake ups. Proud told us that Hello is very careful with what they add to Sense “because we want to make sure when we tell you something, that we are very certain that is what happened.”

Sense

This level of thoughtfulness is consistent across the full Sense experience, from the design of the physical ball, to the app and its features, to the custom ringtones and “Smart Alarms.” Everything feels carefully curated with no extraneous features floating around.

This level of thoughtfulness is consistent across the full Sense experience, from the design of the physical ball, to the app and its features, to the custom ringtones and “Smart Alarms.” Everything feels carefully curated with no extraneous features floating around.

Hello

Sense costs $129 — it comes with one ball (either white or charcoal) and one Sleeping Pill. You can buy one via Hello’s website right here. If you have trouble sleeping, or just want to get better sleep, I recommend giving Sense a shot.

Sense costs $129 — it comes with one ball (either white or charcoal) and one Sleeping Pill. You can buy one via Hello’s website <a href="https://hello.is/"target="_blank">right here</a>. If you have trouble sleeping, or just want to get better sleep, I recommend giving Sense a shot.

Sense

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