We all have 24 hours in our day, and if we are lucky enough, we spent about eight of those asleep in bed and recharge. Sleep is imperative for a healthy body and mind. Without enough good sleep, we might feel upset and not energized enough to power through our busy days. But what can you do if you simply can’t fall asleep? Insomnia is a problem, and there are many other types of sleep problems that prevent you from getting a goodnight’s sleep, even if you make the time for it. The French startup Livlab has made it its aim to help people fall asleep faster in a natural way, augmented by technology.
Livlab was founded in 2014, and two out of the founder team are former insomniacs, and they teamed up to build drug-free solutions to help people with their sleep problems. As of now, they are providing sleep-troubled individuals with two kinds of solutions. One is the Dodow, a little box that works through a calming light projection. The other is the HoomBand, which is a headband with built-in speakers to playback soothing sounds. We could not yet try these out, but the approach looks interesting. Combined with affordable pricing, these make for good candidates to try out in case you have problems falling asleep.
Lose the busy thoughts with Dodow
The concept is simple, and yet it makes sense. Place the Dodow box next to you at night, and it will project a blue circle to the ceiling. The circle will slowly pulsate, looking as it would breathe. As you look at the light, you try to synchronize your breathing to the slow pulsing of the Dodow device. As your body and mind relax, your thoughts will decrease and become less complicated and stressful. Livlab states on their website that within six to eight minutes, the user will be prepared to enter a healthy sleep state. Dodow will then turn off on its own, and you can enjoy sleep without a long period of actually trying to fall asleep.
Relax with the HoomBand and Hoom app for better sleep
The HoomBand has been designed as a comfy wearable speaker system. Using a normal speaker in the bedroom might not give you the same ASMR sensation as if the sound source is very close to your ears. Your brain doesn’t pick that up the same way. Also, using a normal speaker might annoy your partner in case they need silence for their rest phase. Every person is different, so an individual solution like the HoomBand can make sense. Alternatively, some might try in-ear systems like the Apple AirPods or any kind of other wireless earbuds, but I am not sure if that is actually safe to use. It might become a health hazard if you are moving around and pressuring the inside of your ear by accident. This is why I think the HoomBand might be a useful and safe way of getting to listen to soothing soundscapes, ASMR adventures, guided meditation, or other good audio for falling asleep.
Naturally, you can just hook the HomeBand up wirelessly to your smartphone to play anything you like, maybe from your favorite ASMR or soundscape app, or browse guided meditations on YouTube, but the Hoom app actually comes loaded with more than 100 hours of audio for you to browse and enjoy. They regularly update their content, and there is no subscription fee to pay. So this makes it an interesting alternative to paying monthly for Calm or other similar apps. Just a one-off cost for the HoomBand, and you get access to the Hoom app content as well. Not bad at all. You can try out the app before you buy the headband, but you can’t really access the content without the activation code that comes with the hardware product. Is there a pitfall to this? The content is only available in English and French right now. That could be better, but maybe they will add other languages in the future.
And what does good sleep cost?
The pricing might change, but right now, you can get the Dodow for $59.99, the HoomBand for $59.99 in the wired version, and the wireless HoomBand in two different sizes for $79.90. I don’t know what your budget looks like, but I’d go right for the wireless version and be able to move without any wires attached in bed. I’d imagine that it would just feel a lot more natural, but you can, of course, try both versions out.
Related story: 40 Companies That (Want to) Disrupt the Sleep Market
As said earlier, we haven’t actually tried these out, so we have to base this on the information that we could gather online. If you happen to check these on Amazon, make sure to check actual buyers’ comments. Many were excited about how well it worked, and others didn’t feel like they are a good solution at all. Like all solutions that address a problem like insomnia, of course, there is no one solution that is right for everyone, but just in my personal opinion, I’d say it’s worth a try.
YouTube: Sleep Tech by Livlab (HoomBand + Dodow)
Photo credit: All material shown is owned by Livlab and has been provided as part of a press kit.
