Sleep is critical to everyone’s health and in recent times many different companies have begun to use different technologies to help consumers sleep. Simultaneously other technologies can harm one’s sleep, but not in ways many consumers have been told, and these technologies can vary in purpose and design.
Phones are the main device mentioned whenever technology and sleep are mentioned.
Phones do harm sleep with the exposure to blue light however most neglect the positive effects phones can give. More specifically phones can help provide music, podcasts, or ambient sounds that help many people sleep so phones simultaneously harms and helps sleeps.
Other pieces of technology help people sleep like a heated blanket can assist people to sleep when it’s cold.
The main ways that technology harms sleep are usually described as things like TVs, phones, tablets, but sound can also harm as much as it helps sleep. When someone is playing loud music in another room it can impede sleep but that can apply to any kind of sound. In most cases it is usually music from speakers that causes people to struggle with sleep.
Two of the technologies that harm people’s sleep, especially in urban areas like cities, are cars and city lights.
In cities many people live within proximity to streets, so not only do they hear the cars, they can see their headlights at night. The city lights can give an ambient light preventing everyone who lives in the city from sleeping in complete darkness unless they have specific items, like a night mask to help them sleep.
Other items most people don’t think about when talking about electronics to help people sleep is using something like an air humidifiers.
Humidifiers can help sleep by making the air in one’s house less dry which can help sleep by stopping nasal congestion and it can remove pollutants like pollen and dust. This can help people with allergies to sleep without sneezing or scratching their eyes when trying to sleep.
Another item that harms sleep for many people is the kindle, and other similar e-readers but the kindle is the most well known. Since its natural for people to read books right before bed an e-reader likely comes naturally but the bright screen can harm sleep. When one’s body is looking at bright light for an extended period of time tells the body that they need to stay awake. It can cause readers to take up to one and a half hours of additional time to sleep says certain studies.
An electronic that can help sleep but is much more expensive than almost any other option is the temperature regulating bed. The reasons why they help sleep vary but the main reason it would help sleep is cooling down in hotter seasons like the summer or the spring, and heat consumers up during times like winter or fall. Additionally the heat has at times been able to help with cramps and sooth individuals to sleep.
Earbuds can also help sleep with music or sounds.
However a noise cancelling feature which is present on numerous different earbuds can help people to sleep in total silence. Adding this with a sleeping mask can help with a form of sensory deprivation that can seriously help people sleep without worry of disruptions.
Electronics have had a drastic effect on how people sleep.
Overall electronics have had an adverse affect, both good and bad, on people’s sleep over the years.