Apple has taken over all support services for sleep tracking system Beddit. This follows the company’s purchase of Beddit for an undisclosed amount in May 2017.
The support site for the device now takes clients directly to Apple Support.
Beddit is a sleep monitoring system which features a flexible sleep sensor combined with an app that analyses users’ sleeping habits in the hope of providing information so that users can improve sleep quality.
The Beddit Sleep Tracker utilises non-invasive technology to monitor the activity of the lungs, heart and other body functions. The technology is called ballistocardiography (BCG) and is similar to the Apple Watch’s photoplethysmography technology, which measures the user’s heart rate.
While the user’s heart beats, BCG technology tracks the mechanical stimulus created by the quickening of the blood throughout his or her circulatory system, offering a wide range of information about the body.
Beddit measures sleep efficiency, sleep time, respiration rate, heart rate, snoring, movement, room humidity and room temperature. The statistics that the associated app provides can give indicators on what variables to change in order to get a better night’s sleep. This can include monitoring what activities the user participated in during the day and analysing how they affect sleeping patterns.
Since it bought Beddit three months ago, Apple has proceeded to sell the necessary hardware for the Beddit system to work and the company is currently still collecting sleep-related information from users.
Presently, it is unclear exactly how Apple intends to use the Beddit sleep technology, but possibilities include advanced sleep research for projects such as CareKit and HealthKit. There is also the potential for integrating highly advanced sleep monitoring abilities and health tracking functionality into the Apple Watch, or other wearable devices the company might plan to introduce in future.