By Suzanne Kantra, Techlicious.com
It’s not just quantity of sleep that determines how I feel in the morning, it’s also the quality of my sleep. So how do you make those few precious hours of rest really count?
Lark Pro, an iPhone-based app and Bluetooth sleep-monitoring device, aims to answer that question by determining what type of sleeper you are and then delivering a custom sleep program.
During the first week, Lark Pro establishes your sleep baseline. It determines when you usually go to bed, how many hours of sleep you’re getting and how often you wake up.
Lark monitors your sleep with a matchbox-size device you wear strapped to your wrist at night. I’ve tried a few sleep coach devices, including Zeo and BodyMedia, but have found them uncomfortable and felt they interfered with my ability to sleep properly. While I do notice the wristband while I’m initially falling asleep, it doesn’t wake me up or interfere with my ability to fall back asleep at night.
Turning on the alarm in the Lark app also triggers the device to start monitoring your sleep. Turning the alarm off with the app in the morning initiates the data transfer from your Lark device to the Lark app. So within seconds of waking, you can check out last night’s sleep cycle. You can see how long it took to fall asleep, how many times and when you woke up and your sleep score on a scale of 1 to 10.
After your 7-day assessment, you get a set of personal goals to help you get to the next level of improved sleep. You’ll also see up to 15 tips based on your sleep patterns to help you get a better night’s sleep. For instance, the app suggests taking an afternoon 20-30 minute power nap at the same time each day, if you can’t get more hours at night.
One other big benefit of the Lark is that it vibrates to wake you. I can attest to that being a much gentler awakening than a traditional clock radio. It also means my husband can sleep through an early alarm, if I want to go to the gym.
The Lark appeals to me because I can see at a glance how I’m doing with a daily snapshot of the last night’s sleep. And with Lark Pro ($189 on Lark.com, which includes with one year of sleep coaching) you get a custom sleep program. If you’re just interested in your sleep cycle and the great silent alarm, you can get the Lark for $129. You’ll still get your sleep snapshots on your iPhone and historical stats online.
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