Five from Finland
Solutions for better sleep
Sleep easy with these five Finnish innovations.
Julia HelminenIf you’re looking for some novel ways to optimise your sleep and ensure a good night’s rest for the whole family, these Finnish companies have got you covered.
Healthy and sufficient sleep is known to be beneficial for the immune system and helps to fully recharge overnight and stay refreshed and stress-resistant throughout the day.
Sleep tight with these five Finnish innovations!
The smart ring developed by Oura Health offers high-tech content and stylish design.
Oura Health/FacebookAmong the growing number of gadgets and apps developed to measure and evaluate the time spent sleeping, the smart ring designed by this Oulu-headquartered healthtech company is making an impression around the globe with its top-notch technology and sleek design. Will Smith, Shaquille O’Neal and Prince Harry are but some of the big names who have had their heads turned by this Finnish innovation.
Regardless of the waves being made in celebrity circles, Oura continues to relentlessly and passionately educate consumers as to why sleep matters. A funding round in 2020 saw the company plan to invest in product development, hire new talent and increase academic collaborations. A recent example of the latter is a partnership with the University of California, San Francisco, which sought to determine if the smart rings can be used for the early detection of the novel coronavirus.
“Sleep is currently one of the most sought-after pieces of the health puzzle,” underlined former CEO Harpreet Singh Rai. “Improving your sleep is the first step in spurring better habits and ultimately preventing avoidable health issues.”
Noise-cancelling earplugs designed by QuietOn can help to drown out unwanted noise.
QuietOn/FacebookOn a mission to boost people’s wellbeing, this Oulu-based technology company has designed state-of-the-art active noise-cancelling earplugs that come in handy whenever you deal with annoying environmental noises – be it on a plane, at the dentist or in your own bed.
Sleeping in silence may seem like an impossible dream for those who are easily disturbed by snoring or ambient noises coming through the walls. QuietOn Sleep earplugs are optimised for sleeping on a pillow and their noise-cancelling capabilities designed to mitigate snoring frequencies.
The tiny yet effective snoring stopper has proved to be highly sought after in global markets, as quiet and relaxing nights never go out of fashion regardless of global pandemics.
“Our feedback has been magical,” rejoiced co-founder Janne Kyllönen. “The product has the potential to change people’s lives. Its ability to minimise the irritation caused by snoring has already saved some marriages.”
Emfit provides a contactless solution for measuring sleep and recovery.
Emfit/FacebookWith its profound expertise in sleep sensing technology, this innovative company offers a contactless solution for sleep and recovery measurement. The solution can be simply slid under your mattress, no matter how thick it is.
“Using it is easy: you place the sensor crosswise under your mattress, under the area where your heart is whilst sleeping,” explained CEO Heikki Räisänen. “The sensor registers things such as your breathing, heart rate and even heart-rate variability in real time, as well as your movements in bed.”
In addition to health-minded consumers, Emfit targets athletes and other sports professionals who can benefit from its contact-free solution and highly detailed sleep and recovery analysis.
LullaMe Solina is the world’s first baby mattress with a built-in automatic rocking mechanism.
LullaMe/FacebookThe age-old problem of lack of sleep is well familiar to almost all new parents and their restless babies. Hanna Sissala, an entrepreneur and a mother of two from Helsinki, seeks to alleviate this problem with her life-changing invention: a self-rocking mattress.
LullaMe Solina is the first baby mattress with a built-in automatic mechanism that gently rocks the baby to sleep for naps and at night. Thanks to this award-winning product, babies can learn the skill of falling asleep while their parents enjoy the benefits of a much-needed break.
Made using a safe, breathable mesh fabric and installed at the bottom of a baby cot in place of a standard mattress, LullaMe Solina is a risk-free solution. For parents’ convenience, the rocking movement can be controlled via a mobile phone or remote control.
“You can see a mother has been involved in the design. There have not been any compromises,” Sissala told us in 2016, when her startup was known as Familings.
Light Cognitive’s indoor lighting system has a calming effect on users.
Light CognitiveBeing exposed to natural light throughout the day is a great way to improve our overall health, especially because it encourages consistent sleep-wake cycles. Light affects not only our mood, but also our wellbeing and productivity. Our energy levels rise together with the sun, and the warm light hues in the evening signal our brains to rest. This Helsinki-based innovator has designed a unique indoor lighting solution, called Big Sky, that recreates the feeling of being next to a big window or under a clear sky by changing throughout the day, from sunrise to sunset.
“Our product is a vast light field that simulates the light of the sky,” explained founder Sami Salomaa. “From a physics perspective, we have aimed to create light spectra similar to the horizon and colour transitions that are similar to those in nature. They happen in the right order and with the right intensity.”
The benefits of the smart solution have been recognised far beyond Finland. Big Sky has been installed in London, Paris and Geneva across a range of facilities including hospitals, private homes, classrooms, restaurants, hotels and workspaces.
Originally published in November 2019