By Barbara Nelles and Jane Kitchen
Another trend at Las Vegas Market Jan. 26-30 was improved in-store technology to help consumers choose the perfect mattress and facilitate more sales. And what’s really new is the sleep-related tech you take home with you. Some vendors have jumped on board the “quantified-self movement,” offering consumers tech-filled beds and mobile apps that allow you to measure, monitor and — hopefully — improve your sleep.
Simmons ComforPedic iQ with patented Smart Response Technology
Simmons made a huge splash with its revolutionary new self-adjusting ComforPedic iQ from Beautyrest, which was introduced at a private, dealer-only event featuring Dr. Andrew Weil, founder and director of the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona Health Sciences Center and a long-time proponent of the importance of sleep, who endorsed the product.
The ComforPedic iQ uses a patented Smart Response Technology, a self-calibrating technology that responds and adapts to the body by using eight chambers on each side of the bed that inflate and deflate as you move.
“It’s a transformational sleep experience,” said Jeff Willard, Simmons executive vice president of marketing.
And with a sleek design inspired by icons of 21st century technology such as the iPhone and the Dyson vacuum, ComforPedic iQ “doesn’t look like anything else in the bedding industry,” said Willard.
Boyd Specialty Sleep, Sleep Metrics test bed
Boyd Specialty Sleep’s in-store Sleep Metrics system was updated with a complete new software package that delves more deeply into a consumer’s sleep habits and is able to recommend more specific products, from adjustable bases to components with phase-change material. The upgraded software uses new graphics and is more efficient and intuitive to use. A stationary control panel was replaced with an Android-based touchscreen app that can be carried through the store or attached to a pedestal. In addition, the four mattresses used in the comfort-test process have been updated with new components.
Leggett & Platt Adjustable Bed Group new Premier Series
Leggett & Platt Adjustable Bed Group introduced the Premier Series, which President Jay Thompson said is targeted to the affluent technology consumer. It’s an adjustable base that knows to turn on the under-bed nightlight when you tiptoe to the bathroom in the middle of the night. “LP Sense” also will detect your fingers or your pet’s nose to prevent unpleasant pinches when the bed is being adjusted. Up to five electrical devices can be integrated into the bed’s tablet control app allowing owners to “create pleasant room scenes for reading, watching TV or sleeping,” which the bed will remember and save for later use. The Premier can’t ‘turn off the lights and light a candle’ when you’re in a romantic mood, but L&P may be saving that for their next market introduction.
Another adjustable with all the bells and whistles is Reverie’s 8 Series, which all but tucks you in each night. If you’d like, stay “fully connected” while in bed and enjoy the new head-tilt feature for easier reading in bed. The bed will save all of your favorite positions, and its myriad operations can be managed via its
Reverie 8 Series
proprietary app that uploads to any smart device. The 8 Series also features a proprietary four-speaker surround sound system with Bluetooth technology built into the base, allowing consumers to experience high-quality sound streamed wirelessly from their smart device.
“We integrated new technology into our design in such a way that it actually works together to create the ultimate value-add for consumers,” said Reverie President and CEO Martin Rawls-Meehan.
King Koil’s new Ztech Sleep collection comes with an app. Users can download the “Ztechstarter app” and be on their way to crowd-funding their next mattress purchase. Designed with millennials in mind, the Ztech app allows users to ask all of their friends on Facebook to contribute to their mattress purchase — definitely a first for the mattress industry.
Kingsdown Sleep Smart bed
Kingsdown brought out further refinements to the very intelligent Sleep Smart bed, which uses technology to allow you to take control and monitor your entire night’s sleep. The bed has updated software, integrated POP and is designed to help users achieve optimal “sleep efficiency,” the company said.
Sleep Smart monitors movement, assesses pain, eases pressure, tracks sleep patterns and puts it all in a report. The bed has Kingsdown Scientific Measurement and Response Technology (SMART) sensors that automatically trigger air cylinders that slowly expand or contract for optimal comfort throughout the night as you change sleep positions.
