We were invited to IFA GPC in late April, a media event that showcased sneak peeks of the upcoming innovations presented now at the IFA 2019 conference in Berlin.
Philips is well known for its business health tech solutions. However, during the IFA Global press conference, Marlies Gebetsberger, Personal Health Leader for the Market DACH of (Germany, Austria, and Switzerland) at Philips, presented an overview of the company’s consumer health product portfolio and a preview of their IFA 2019 breakthroughs.
The presentation covered a broad range of devices addressing the needs of consumers in sleep, pregnancy, oral health, personal care, air quality, and nutrition.
Philips is at IFA 2019 with a new product for its SmartSleep lineup, the Snoring Relief Band, a device the Dutch manufacturer announced at CES in January.
Marlies Gebetsberger showed me a mockup of the band at the IFA GPC in April (see photos), so I could gauge the product design, but I could not try the user interface and the connectivity. Since I am not a snorer, I would not be able to try it and evaluate its effectiveness. We expect to see the final device today after the press conference.
When it comes to connected devices, we know that the value resides more in the user’s data enabling the delivery of personalized solutions than in the hardware, thus, Marlies Gebetsberger explained how Philips focuses on designing smarter consumer health services by combining AI, various technologies and relevant user experiences (labeled “Adaptive Intelligence” by the company). You can read more about the topic on Gear Diary, Judie Stanford published a great interview of Marlies Gebetsberger.
According to Philips and a Park Associates survey [1], about 40 percent of people in the US alone report difficulty in maintaining a sufficient amount of sleep consistently and according to the British snoring and apnea association, close to 25% women and around 40% of all men snore, disturbing the sleep of their partner.
According to the British snoring and apnea association, different types of snoring have different causes including Alcohol, Smoking, Sleeping medication, Allergies and Hayfever Being overweight or out of shape, Sleeping position and Nasal problems, e.g. deviated septum.
With the SmartSleep Snoring Relief Band, Philips aims at addressing positional snoring with a clinically-proven personalized solution. People suffering from that type of snoring snore only when they are sleeping on their back.
Thanks to dedicated sensors, the band (around the lower chest) detects the user turning onto her back. That triggers adaptative vibrations to prompt the wearer to move onto her side to stop snoring. Compared to popular snoring relief solutions on the market, which include various mouthpieces, chin apparatus, and nose devices, this smart band is a lot less intrusive (other devices may address different types of snoring).
Philips SmartSleep Snoring Band Relief will be available this year in the U.S. and in 2020 in Europe and other markets. No word about the price at the time of publishing.
The new product is an exciting addition to the SmartSleep lineup that includes Connected Sleep and Wake-up Light with new and improved sleep coaching features, and the SmartSleep Deep Sleep Headband (unveiled at CES 2018).
[1] Sleep & IoT: Behaviors, Awareness, and Opportunities Q2 2018, N= 2,000 ±2.19% ©2018 Parks Associates
[2] Snoring study (UK, Breath right), Intermediar, British snoring and apnea association
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