Sleep Inertia & SmartWakeZeo offers a unique wake-up feature, called SmartWake, that may make it a little easier for you to get up in the morning.
History of Sleep Inertia
Nearly fifty years ago, the US Air Force discovered that their extremely well-trained pilots – who slept in the cockpit so they could take off at a moment’s notice – were making inexplicable errors after being suddenly woken up. In subsequent studies, scientists realized that such mistakes were often caused by extreme grogginess from awakening out of Deep sleep. This impaired ability while transitioning from sleep to wakefulness later came to be called “sleep inertia.”
The Impact of Sleep Inertia
Sleep inertia is that bleary feeling that you can experience as you make the transition from sleep to wakefulness. Sleep inertia can hurt your performance in a variety of ways, including your decision making skills, reaction time, and motor skills. Sleep inertia could also be what inspires you to hit the snooze button in the morning when your alarm goes off.
What Causes Sleep Inertia?
According to research published in Sleep Medicine Reviews, the magnitude of sleep inertia depends on how long you’ve slept, whether you are sleep deprived, the time of day, and your sleep phase just prior to awakening.
The first two items that cause morning grogginess – how long you’ve slept and whether you’re sleep deprived – can be dealt with by taking control of your sleep (this, of course, is what Zeo and the 7 Steps to Sleep Fitness™ email program were created for!). For the last item on this list – your sleep phase prior to awakening – there’s SmartWake.
SmartWake
We developed SmartWake based on scientific research into sleep inertia. Zeo’s SmartWake feature puts the technology of the SoftWave sensors to work, searching for what could be a "natural awakening point" – when it could be a little easier for you to get out of bed in the morning. SmartWake seeks a moment when you’re transitioning into or out of REM sleep, a point when your brain is highly active. Zeo is uniquely able to identify these moments in your sleep patterns, since it detects all phases of your sleep.
SmartWake will awaken you up to a half hour before your set alarm time and, on average, only 15 minutes early. In our market research, people who typically have trouble getting out of bed in the morning tell us that using SmartWake makes it easier to get up and helps them wake up feeling more refreshed.
So check it out – SmartWake could be just what your morning needs!