If you’re the type that suffers from sleep apnea or someone who snores heavily at night, this robotic polar bear pillow might be something worth checking out. It has been dubbed as the Jukusui-kun, and was developed by Wasaeda University’s Kabe Lab in Japan. Its aim is to help those who suffer from sleep apnea and heavy snoring by gently tickling the user’s face.By tickling the user’s face, this would cause the user to roll onto their side while remaining in a state of deep sleep, or so it has been reported. Rolling onto your side while sleeping has been said to help reduce snoring, so while some of us find it hard to actively sleep on our sides during a deep state of sleep, this is where Jukusui-kun comes in.
In order for Jukusui-kun to detect that we have started snoring, a pulse meter is attached to the sleeper’s hand together with sensors under the sheets and a built-in microphone, which detects when the user starts to snore and that’s when Jukusui-kun reaches over to tickle their face. While the pillow itself looks comfortable, we can’t say sleeping with sensors under the sheets, and a pulse meter attached to our hand is very convenient. Either way it does not appear to be ready for public consumption just yet, but if it were, any takers?