Consumer actigraphy device maker Jawbone recently analyzed the data of more than 1,600 wearers of its UP system. (The UP system is a wristband, app, and data service that strives to track sleep, movement, and eating habits of the wearer.) Here are some of the findings:
- On average, members of the UP community who got at least 7 hours of sleep were 30% more likely to report feeling rested the next day. Those UP wearers were also significantly more likely to report feeling optimistic, patient, focused, productive, and attractive the next day.
- Sound sleep (defined by Jawbone as “the moments of sleep when your body is particularly still”) had a greater impact above and beyond total time spent sleeping.
- The study also asked subjects about the causes of sleeplessness, with a quarter of UP wearers in the study reporting difficulty falling asleep. Of those, nearly half attribute their sleep issues to stress, 20% to room temperature, and 18% to simply not feeling tired.
- Only 3% of those who reported difficulty falling asleep attribute their sleep issues to noisiness or to children.
- The data from Jawbone also showed the effects of lifestyle habits and gadgetry on our sleep. UP wearers who reported having a laptop in their bedroom logged 37 minutes less sound sleep per night on average.
- UP wearers who slept with a mobile phone had 13 minutes less sound sleep on average.
As a result of this study, Jawbone introduced the UP 3.1 App for iOS, which the company says analyzes data from the UP and UP24 bands to provide wearers with tailored insights on how sleep and activity interrelate. It also introduced the UP Coffee app for iOS 7 that can be used by both UP owners and non-owners alike to track caffeine.
