SleepScore Labs,  a joint venture between ResMed, Dr Mehmet Oz, and Pegasus Capital Advisors LP, has released a free app that it says can turn any smartphone into a non-contact, standalone sleep tracker.
According to the company, the app, named “SleepScore,” combines the convenience of a free standalone smartphone app with the verified accuracy of sleep-detecting sonar algorithms developed over the past 13 years by ResMed and tested and validated against polysomnography at accredited sleep labs worldwide.

How SleepScore works

Using the smartphone’s speakers, the app sends inaudible sound waves, which are reflected off the user’s body and received back into the microphone. SleepScore’s algorithms then interpret the shape and movement of the reflected sound waves to sense full breathing wave form and body movements. The combination of these signals is used to decipher which sleep stage the user is in (wake, light sleep, deep sleep or REM), as well as the number of times users wake up through the night and the time it takes to fall asleep.
“Sleep affects all facets of people’s health, and yet there has been no easy way to accurately measure or track it everywhere we sleep—until now,” says Colin Lawlor, CEO of SleepScore Labs, in a release. “We’ve been developing this technology longer than the iPhone has existed. We’re excited that for the first time, virtually everyone can get a truer picture of their sleep health for free and make smarter decisions about how to get a more restful night’s sleep.”

App features

  • SleepScore: Each morning, users receive a 1–100 score of how they slept, with a breakdown of what affected their scores, such as sleep length, time to fall asleep, or interruptions.
  • Sleep history: Users can view their SleepScores for the past 7 days.
  • Goal setting: Users can select a sleep goal, such as “Sleep Longer” or “Wake Up Less,” then receive advice and simple challenges to help achieve their goals. After 7 recorded nights, SleepScore will suggest if users should move on to a different goal.
  • Smart Alarm: This alarm wakes the user up at the “ideal moment” in their sleep cycle, within a timeframe they select.
  • Personalized product recommendations: Based on users’ data, SleepScore will recommend thoroughly evaluated products and services from its selected partners that could improve the quality of their sleep, ranging from pillows to sound machines and snoring solutions.
  • Premium features: A paid version of the app provides users with their complete sleep history, trend and correlations analytics, exportable data, and a sleep report for their doctor to view and discuss clinical sleep recommendations, if needed.

The app is currently free to download and use for iOS from the Apple App Store, with Android estimated to follow before the end of June from Google Play.