THE PATHFINDER TO YOUR PILLOW
The most important things to know
to choose meaningfully.
DESCRIPTION
Pillows are rectangular items, stuffed with soft material used to keep your head and neck aligned according to your comfort while sleeping or resting.
Smart pillows ensure this basic functionality while adding some technological advancement. They, for example, feature built-in speakers, connectivity to your smart devices, integrated sleep tracking system, anti-snoring sensors and remote control. Thanks to these features, smart pillows provide a comfortable environment, for example, reducing sleeplessness allowing you to listen to the music that lures you or minimising the noise of your partner with the help of anti-snoring sensors.
BENEFITS
No direct impact on time savings.
Quality of life improved thanks to the creation of friendly sound environments, the cancellation of disturbing noises and the integration of personal alarms.
Peace of mind increased thanks to an enhanced understanding of your sleep patterns, the optimisation of your sleep and the identification of potential sleep disorders.
No direct impact on home costs.
TYPES
There are several types of pillows. Here you can find the list of the most relevant ones classified based on their filling material:
This type of pillow has a filling of buckwheat hulls. Besides being firm, it is more adaptable to your head and neck positioning as the grains it made of easily slip and slide into different shapes. On the downside, they are mostly not washable and hence more challenging to maintain.
This type of pillow is extra soft and fluffy as well as extremely light in weight. Made of the plumage of duck or geese, it can be easily moulded to fit the shapes of fancy pillow covers. For temporary use it is workable, but it is very impractical for resting/sleeping for longer time duration due to the limited support provided to the head and the neck.
This type of pillow mimics the authentic down softness and lightweight benefits by the use of polyester puffballs. These pillows are therefore suitable for people with allergies but less durable than real down ones. Similarly, they don't provide firm support for the head and neck.
This type of pillow is made from the feathers of duck and geese. The feathers are usually the centre filling, while the material used in down pillows is used for the outer padding. Like down pillows, these pillows are incredibly soft and lightweight.
This type of pillow is also firm. It has a bouncy feel and is quite beneficial for the people with a neck ache and shoulder pain. Furthermore, it is suitable for side and back sleepers.
NASA has used this type of pillow for its astronauts re-entering the Earth and needing cushioning for their heads. It is hypoallergenic, adaptable to your neck and incredibly supportive. It is especially useful to ease the pain, discomfort, and stiffening of the upper body parts. However, it has one flaw: it is hot and heavy.
This type of pillow is made from organic cotton, buckwheat, or wool. This category includes the soft as well as the hard pillows. They absorb less heat and are soft yet very supportive.
This type of pillow includes pillows that are less soft as compared to the Down ones but softer than the Memory foam ones. These are easily washable and reasonable in price.
VARIABLES
Before you buy a pillow, the following are some of the variables that are worth considering:
The types of pillows are mentioned above.
Pillows come in various formats (i.e. standard, super standard, queen, king, euro, and body pillow). It depends upon your body height, weight, sleeping position, comfort level, and use whether you choose a standard pillow or a king-size pillow (or any other size).
Loft means the height of the pillow. Low loft pillows are 7,6 cm high, while medium loft pillows are 7,6 to 12,7 cm high. High loft pillow is more than 12,7 cm high. Generally, most of the people prefer medium loft pillows. Anyways, it depends upon the physical aspects of your body as well as your comfort preferences. Also, your health is an essential determinant of your pillow choice.
Music/white noise sleep timer app is a feature that can be present in smart pillows. This app allows you to play white noise or some soothing music to make you fall asleep. White noise is particularly the noise at which all sound frequencies are merged, and it drowns all the other noises, helping you to fall asleep. A typical example of the white noise is the noise of the ceiling fan.
The sleep tracking system is a feature that can be present in smart pillows to analyse the duration and quality of your sleep. It pairs with the app that stores your sleep timings, heart-rate, and breathing patterns in the form of charts and numbers. It is essential to track your sleep if you are health conscious as less sleep duration can lead, for example, to obesity, fatigue, and lack of concentration.
The anti-snore control is a feature that can be present in smart pillows. This is a technology that uses sensors to monitor and control the snores. Sensors are activated by the sound of your sleep and cause vibrations (neither too strong to disturb your sleep, nor too mild to becomes ineffective) to make you change position so that the constricted airways are free. As a result, the snoring stops.
The partner-friendly alarm is a feature that can be present in smart pillows to wake you up at optimal time in your sleep cycle by employing an alarm sound circumscribed to your area that won’t disturb your partner’s sleep.