Sleep Number wants you to grow old in its smart beds

Sleep Number’s 360 smart beds are a regular fixture at CES, and this year is no exception. Today, Sleep Number is announcing the latest upgrades to its 360 smart beds, improving some of their built-in sensors and adding on surrounding tech like lights and mobility accessories that it calls “smart furniture.” The idea, according to Sleep Number, is to create more accessible smart beds so that people can age more comfortably or recover from injuries.

“Smart furniture” is a new addition that surrounds the 360 smart bed. While it looks like one of those fancy headboards with built-in shelves, Sleep Number says it was built to support sleep health and make its beds more accessible. For example, the smart furniture includes mobility aids to help sleepers who may need extra help entering or exiting the bed. It also features individual audio and noise reduction technology meant to block out environmental noise and has built-in reading lights, charging ports, and storage areas. Lastly, the furniture has ambient lighting designed to help maintain normal circadian rhythms — think amber-colored lighting at night and a dawn simulator in the morning.

As for the bed itself, this year Sleep Number seems particularly keen to position the 360 bed as a potential healthcare tool — though overall, the updates seem to be focused on refining its smart capabilities rather than introducing groundbreaking new features. Sleep Number says the new 360 bed can continuously monitor a person’s general wellness, sleep health behaviors, chronic sleep issues, and generate real-time insights and suggestions for sleepers, their caregivers, and doctors. It also says that over time, the bed’s AI can identify abnormal events and notify the sleeper that something is off.

Sleep Number’s always given sleep insights and wellness reports, but the company says its improved sensing capabilities move it closer to a future where it can proactively alert users of oncoming illness and risks for conditions like insomnia, sleep apnea, or cardiac events. To be clear, this does not mean Sleep Number’s beds can diagnose any of these medical conditions right now. That would require FDA clearance and even the most advanced smartwatches aren’t quite there yet, though there is plenty of research being done on that front.

Image: Sleep Number

Better accuracy isn’t all that exciting on paper, even though it might be an impressive achievement under the hood. Sleep Number says that it’s used over 12 billion hours of sleep data to “significantly innovate its 360 smart bed.” Aside from software updates, physical updates include small changes like adding “high-tech textiles,” antimicrobial components, and graphite-infused foam that supposedly keeps sleepers cool by encouraging airflow.

In a briefing, Sleep Number also noted that the new 360 smart beds will be able to actively monitor body temperature to create “microclimates,” as well as tilt the bed to improve airflow by elevating the head without sacrificing spinal alignment. For elderly or injured sleepers, Sleep Number also says you can adjust the height to make it easier to get in and out of bed. Again, this isn’t as fun as the foot-warming feature it introduced in 2017, but greater accessibility and accuracy are always welcome.

The new 360 smart beds will be available starting in 2023, with prices starting at $1,099. The smart furniture will also be available in 2023, but Sleep Number hasn’t yet decided pricing.