Gadget-filled bed to arrive next year

Sweet slumbers (and movie watching, and snore-busting and music downloading...)

14 January 2008 11:23 GMT / By Katie Scott

Last year, there was news of a pillow that stops snorers snoring, but now details have been published of an entire high tec bed that diagnoses your sleep patterns to ensure a good night's kip.

The designers at Leggett & Platt came up with the Starry Night bed after talking to the general public about what they wanted from their bed.

And apparently, as well as somewhere cosiness and comfort, we want a full entertainment system.

"Consumers told us that they use their beds for much more than sleep", said Mark Quinn, group executive vice president of sales and marketing for the bedding division at Leggett & Platt.

"The bed is a place for reading, watching movies, spending time with the kids, listening to music and even folding laundry."

To ensure a decent night's sleep using the latest technology, the bed incorporates vibration sensor and load cell technologies to measure how much a sleeper tosses and turns, and how often they get out of bed during the night, as well as monitoring their breathing patterns (which apparently indicate when we are relaxed).

These movements are compared to a 30-day baseline measure of the sleeper, and provide tips to improve sleep quality.

And good news for those with a snoring partner, the bed also detects snoring using a vibration-detection system and then automatically articulates the sleeper's position by seven degrees "to open the nasal passages".

Once the snoring subsides, the bed returns to its original position.

In addition, "liquid-based Peltier technology" allows the mattress to pre-heat or pre-cool both sides of the bed independently from 20 to 47 degrees Celsius.

And for those of you who like listening to music or watching movies in bed - the super-tech bed offers a full surround-sound system with retractable speakers and a 1080p LCD headboard projector to project a 120-inch image on the opposite wall.

An in-built computer offers 1.5TB of solid state storage, 4GB of Ram, Wi-Fi and a wireless keyboard.

The system can be controlled through a touch-screen or wireless remote via Microsoft's Media Centre.

The Starry Night bed is expected to be available in the first half of 2009 and will cost between $20,000 and $50,000, (depending on features).

Full tags

Gadgets, Home Cinema, Home And Kitchen, Desktop PCs, Microsoft