L&P's 'smart bed' does it all
By David Perry -- Furniture Today, January 6, 2008
Carthage, Mo. — Leggett & Platt has developed what it says is the world's smartest bed, packed with high-tech gadgets that monitor body movements, warm and cool the body, play movies and music — and help alleviate snoring.
The components giant is introducing its Starry Night Sleep Technology at CES, the big consumer electronics show in Las Vegas this week, and at the Las Vegas Market later this month.
The bed, expected to hit the market in the first half of 2009, will retail between $20,000 and $50,000, depending on which features the consumer wants.
"Consumers told us they use their beds for much more than sleep," said Mark Quinn, group executive vice president of sales and marketing in L&P's bedding division. "The bed is a place for reading, watching movies, spending time with the kids, listening to music and even folding laundry."
It won't fold laundry, but the Starry Night bed will accommodate many other activities.
It uses vibration sensor and load cell technologies to measure how much a sleeper tosses and turns, and how often he or she gets out of bed during the night. The vibration sensor detects and monitors breathing patterns that indicate relaxation. It then compares those movements to a 30-day baseline measure of the sleeper and provides tips to improve sleep quality, which are displayed on a bedside monitor called the Good Morning Screen.
The Starry Night bed detects snoring with the vibration detection system, which was originally developed for the military. It automatically changes the sleep position of the adjustable bed by seven degrees to open the nasal passages, which helps to alleviate mild to moderate snoring, according to L&P. Once the snoring subsides, the bed returns to its original position.
Using liquid-based Peltier technology, the mattress can be set to heat or cool each side of the bed, from 68 degrees to 117 degrees. By eliminating the need to heat or cool the entire house during sleeping hours, the bed saves money and helps the environment, according to L&P.
The bed also has entertainment features. A 2,500-watt surround sound system includes four eight-inch subwoofers. A projector in the headboard can show movies, books, music navigation features, the Internet, the Good Morning screen and even the local daily weather on a 120-inch screen mounted on the wall.
Starry Night also provides wireless Internet connectivity with a wireless keyboard. The bed and electronics can be controlled from the Good Morning touch screen or a wireless remote. Of course, there's also an iPod docking station.
The bed includes an enormous disc storage capacity of 1.5 terabytes — that's 1,500 gigabytes — which can hold almost 400,000 songs or up to 2,000 hours of video. Its operating system runs on a solid-state hard drive for fast data transfer, L&P said
A Joey Coil innerspring system provides support for sleepers with different body builds. Joey Coils use a pocketed coil-within-coil system to create comfort for any size sleeper. According to L&P, the exterior coils have a luxurious feel and respond to body movements, while the interior coils are pressure sensitive and increase in firmness in response to the amount of weight applied.
L&P to introduce "world’s smartest bed"
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