taylor franklin hide: lumi sleep mask

‘lumi’ sleep mask, designed by taylor franklin hide

the ‘lumi’ sleep mask, developed by american designer taylor franklin hide, provides by night the complete darkness known to increase one’s quality of sleep, without sacrificing the opportunity to awaken by morning to the gradual increase in soft light that sunlight offers.

combining an alarm clock and sleep mask, ‘lumi’ features an LED substrate sewn into its interior, providing soft light that increases in intensity over the half hour prior to sounding the device’s alarm. light intensity and wake-up time can both be modified by a controller, with plans in development for also providing control via smartphones. unlike most close-fitting sleep masks, ‘lumi’ is molded from neoprene foam and is designed with eye cavities to increase comfort and permit normal blinking, especially important for restful REM sleep.

in addition to mimicking sunlight, the device does make use of a standard sound alarm

awakening with sunlight has long been a better alternative to abrupt alarms, but often our wake-up time is not perfectly aligned with the sunrise, and entering light may awaken us too early. to close the blinds or otherwise block ourselves to the light might increase our sleep quality during the night, but it means resigning ourselves to alarms in order to awaken.

pre-production prototype of the mask

through melatonin production, our bodies are designed to cue our sleep schedule in response to darkness and sunlight. ‘lumi’ is not the first device to make use of increasingly brightening light as an alternative to sudden, disruptive alarms, but because it also serves to block light out during the night, the mask increases its user’s quality of sleep on multiple levels.

via gizmag