Sleep and fertility devices trending at Consumer Electronics Show

Health technology will be central to annual CES show which sets agenda for coming year

Matteo Franceschetti, co-founder of Eight, named after the optimal hours of sleep. The firm’s system tracks times awake, breathing rate and number of tosses and turns. Photograph: Guerin Blask/The New York Times
Matteo Franceschetti, co-founder of Eight, named after the optimal hours of sleep. The firm’s system tracks times awake, breathing rate and number of tosses and turns. Photograph: Guerin Blask/The New York Times

Technology designed to improve sleep will be one of the biggest trends at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES), say organisers.

The annual Las Vegas-based event will have a dedicated “sleep tech marketplace” for the first time when it opens on Thursday, with sleep trackers and sensors, smart alarms and even connected beds due to be on display.

Gary Shapiro, chief executive of CES organiser the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) said the event was seeing "huge growth" in wearable devices aimed at improving sleep, health and fitness as well as sports tracking.

Among the sleep products on display will be Nightingale, an ambient sound generator designed to block outside noise such as traffic that could wake people during the night. The new sleep tech area is being supported by the National Sleep Foundation in the US.

READ SOME MORE

Boost sperm count

The trade show, which marks its 50th anniversary this year and traditionally serves as an agenda setter for the coming 12 months, will be the biggest yet, the CTA says, including more than 850 companies exhibiting products at the event for the first time. And 600 start-up firms looking for investment will also be in attendance. Household names including Sony, Samsung, LG and Panasonic will present new products during the show.

But sleep and wider health technology is becoming increasingly central to the event, with products on show this year including a smart bracelet called Ava which claims to be able to alert women to when they are most fertile. A system called Trak Fertility – that can analyse sperm samples and use an app to tell men how to boost their sperm count – will also be demonstrated during the show.

– Reuters