LAS VEGAS -- When you think of mattress technology, you probably think of springs and stuffing, not sensors and voice recognition.
Sleep Number, the company that makes mattresses with adjustable firmness, is trying to change that. At the International Consumer Electronics Show on Tuesday, Sleep Number unveiled the x12, a mattress that not only has built-in sensors that track how well you and your partner sleep, but also can respond to voice commands, do something about your partner's awful snoring and give you a massage.
The x12, which goes on sale in some markets next month and throughout the U.S. later this year, features some of the biggest themes at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, such as embedded sensors that track your movement and give biofeedback, and so-called “smart devices" -- everyday household objects like TVs and appliances that connect to a network.
SleepIQ technology, as the company calls it, monitors movement in the bed as well as average breathing rate and heart rate to determine how well you and your partner sleep. People who have mattresses with SleepIQ can use an accompanying app or website to keep track of any number of things that may affect sleep, such as diet, exercise, caffeine or having a sick child. Based on the biometric information, the bed will give you a sleep score and recommend different firmness and support settings to help improve sleep.
“It will help you know better sleep by communicating how you slept the night before and what affected your sleep,” Shelly Ibach, president and CEO of Sleep Number, said at a press conference. “And tell you straight up: Here’s a good night’s sleep, here’s a better night’s sleep and here’s an awesome night’s sleep.”
The x12, which starts at a whopping $7,999 for a queen-sized mattress, also has a feature that is sure to appeal to many: If your partner is snoring, you can use a voice command to raise his or her head, which can help stop the snoring. (Or you could, of course, just give him or her an affectionate nudge.)
Other features of the bed include the ability to elevate each side of the bed independently and voice-activated lights on each side that will help light your way in the middle of the night.
A bed that tracks your every move raises the question: What about those intimate moments that you probably don’t want recorded? Sleep Number says there’s a privacy button that will turn off Sleep IQ.
Sleep Number is hoping to cash in on the growing trend of sleep tracking, much of which is done at this point with smartphone apps or wrist-worn products, such as Fitbit Flex and Jawbone UP. A survey last year from Forrester, the research and analysis firm, found that 36 percent of respondents were using or were interested in using devices and services to track sleep if they “were available at an affordable price point.”
With a price range of $7,999 to $15,399 (for an upholstered bed, side panel and nightstands), the x12 is far from affordable for most people, though Sleep Number does have plans later this year to introduce mattresses with SleepIQ technology that start at $999.
This article has been updated to note that the $15,399 version of the x12 includes furniture.