GOODBYE SLEEPING PILLS

ROBOTS are not all hard metal or, for that matter, impossibly pretty, doll-faced humanoids. For insomniacs, they can come in the form of cuddly pillow-like objects whose job is to make the owner get to sleep and stay asleep.

Somnox, the sleep robot, can breathe in a natural rhythm, rising and falling with each breath, and also play sounds to soothe the person. The field of soft robotics is an up and coming one, and a machine that isn’t busy stealing someone’s job or taking over the world may just have a welcome future living with humans. Somnox has all its machine internals hidden deep inside, leaving the exterior free to be cuddly. Someone who just can’t get to sleep can use it much like a security blanket, holding on to it and hugging it at bedtime. What would be nice is if it could also be warm in the winter months and sing you to sleep – but that’s still in the making.