These Smart Pajamas Could Help You Get a Better Night’s Sleep

Lack of restful sleep is an epidemic around the world, and there is a good chance it affects you. Either you’re simply not getting enough sleep each night, or you aren’t getting sleep that’s actually restful. If you wake up and still feel tired, or you have a hard time making it through the day, then you’re most likely suffering from a lack of restful sleep. But someday soon, new smart pajamas may help you improve how well you sleep.

These smart pajamas, dubbed “Phyjama” by the researchers at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst who developed them, are lined with sensors that monitor how well you’re sleeping throughout the night. You may have seen products with a similar goal, like fitness tracker bracelets and smart beds. But each of those is only able to monitor one parameter. Fitness trackers only monitor your heart rate, while smart beds only measure how much you move throughout the night.

The Phyjama can do both using specially-fabricated sensors that blend seamlessly into the fabric. There is an array of sensors that constantly monitor pressure points around your body, as well as a sensor that measures your heart rate. All of those sensors feel similar to traditional fabric. They can then transmit the data they collect via a Bluetooth-enabled button. That button is roughly the same size and shape as a conventional clothing button, so it also shouldn’t cause any discomfort. The data collected could then be used to determine why you’re not sleeping well.

Phyjama has already been patented, and the team that developed it believes it could be on the market within two years and will likely cost between $100 and $200.