There are many different gadgets that claim to help you sleep better, but the Zeo Personal Sleep Coach provides you a whole array of features that are combined to assist your sleep, teach you how to improve it and also allow you to track your history.
We previously covered the Sleeptracker watch which studies your sleep patterns while on your wrist and according to a Window you set to wake up in, alarms you when you are closest to a waking state. The Zeo Personal Sleep Coach includes that feature but goes further to explain the different areas of your sleep, graph your nighttime adventures and also aims to provide you solutions in order to solve your sleeping problems towards a good night rest.
AT CES 2010, Zeo were happy to let us try it out at our own accord, for they were so excited about their product and had such a strong belief that it really helps. Of course, Walyou was happy to be the guinea pigs and were hoping to finally get a well deserved rest.
Out of the Box:
The Zeo arrives in awesome packaging, which as they mentioned, is “Apple inspired”. It just seemed like everything was in its right place and the cleanliness and design are beautiful. Inside the package there is the main Zeo system, the headband and sensor, SD Card and USB Reader, the different instruction manuals and also the Zeo sleep chart that allows you to compare your sleep score with the average for your age group.
Setting Up:
Getting set up is seriously a breeze. In Las Vegas, they mentioned that it takes only a minute to get ready for use, but I was rather skeptic and was later proved wrong. For those that do not like to start reading manuals, the Zeo guides you on the main screen along with the appropriate buttons, so you could simply plug it in, set up the time, decide your alarm time and start using it. If you still want to go through the manuals, they are extremely easy to read and are accompanied with diagrams and sketches of the various buttons, so your chances of making a mistake are decreased immensely.
After going through the motions, we went along and set up the Smart Wake alarm. The way that the Smart Wake alarm differs from the regular is by allowing a Window of time that the Zeo is allowed to wake you up in. If you set up to wake up at 8am and provided a 30 minute window, you are allowing the Zeo to ring the alarm anywhere between 7:30-8am (never after your Alarm time) if it deems you are close to a waking state (thanks to the forehead sensor aka Zeo Hedband).
The Zeo Headband:
While at first glance it looks like a SciFi headband that would steal your dreams, the Zeo headband is actually really comfortable and does not bother you while you sleep. It is easily adjustable, so anyone in the household can adjust it for their head, and along with the soft sides, does not hurt, scratch or leave any marks on your forehead. I was a little wary to go to sleep with it on, but after a good night rest, I woke up without feeling as if I was burdened by it.
The Zeo hedaband includes sensors on its main compratment (located right in the front) that softly touch your forehead and analyze your sleeping pattern. As you sleep with it on, a graph immediately begins on the Zeo system that tracks your entire night of sleep. It was pretty cool to see in the morning and notice the entire graph laid out from the time I went to sleep to the time the Smart Wake went off (18 minutes early to be exact).
Zeo Display:
The Zeo display is easy to read and aims to better educate you about your sleep. In large numbers, both the current time and alarm time are displayed. The graph is situated right below and shows the different sleep you encountered, the time each area represents and what kind of sleep you experienced at that specific moment.
For viewing such sleep data for the first time, I realized it was very easy to read and also showed me how long it took me to fall asleep, when I was close to a waking state, and at what times I was in real deep sleep. While I am not a doctor who could really make any sggestions from such data, it was really cool to see it in a plain graph without having to have a text book next to me to understand it.
Zeo Sleep Coaching Program:
This is a major addition with the Zeo that puts it apart from the rest. The Zeo Sleep Coaching Program works along with your personal sleep data and really provides ideas to improve your sleep. With your personal sleeping patterns graphs, questions regarding your sleep experience also before bed time, and updated tracking, Zeo is now able to suggest solutions to a number of things that may affect your sleep.
Since it tracks your sleep every time you place the headband on, it can see whenever changes has been made. They have pinpointed 7 sleep stealers that may be affecting your sleep and guide through determining which one (or more) are the specific ones that deprive you from a good sleep.
Total Zeo:
Zeo Personal Sleep Coach is an entire program that combines hi tech gadgets, intricate sleep research and proven solutions in order to help you arrive at a good night sleep. It wasn’t build just on technology alone, for some of the leading Sleep experts were involved with the creation, development and release of the Zeo which in turn grants a viable product that really provides personal data and solutions.
Overall, the best things about the Zeo were that it wasn’t a burden and that it granted real easy to read data. I was at first worried about how much time it would take to set up, use and study from, but I was both surprised and relieved that it was a simple to use product with a real meaning. Moreover, the Zeo also provides another thing that really makes it simple for every day use…it determines an actual ‘grade’ for your sleep, which with this numerical grade, you could compare your overall sleep and see if you are actually improving.
I must admit that I was really excited at the depth that is involved with this product and how far it goes into seriously education you about sleep as a whole, from the Zeo device to the personal Zeo website and data.
So if you want to track your sleep, repair so and arrive at a more fulfilling rest, the Zeo runs for only $249 and includes the main Zeo Alarm clock, Zeo Headband, SD Card and reader and sleep educational material aimed to provide you a better sleep.
