It’s been awhile since I last posted, so I wanted to take a moment to get everyone up to speed.

As I last posted, SleepQ will be an iPhone/Ipad app to start.  Development has begun and we are on-track for a February release in the App Store!  Should the app be popular, we will begin development for Android phones.

The app will allow the user (with on-going sleep troubles) to do sleep training:  repeated short naps for an hour or two in the late afternoon following any rough night of sleep.  Sleep will be detected by user response to a periodic tone with a slight shake of the phone.  No shake responses mean sleep has begun and the SleepQ app will wake the user, ask if sleep was perceived, give the correct answer, then repeat the process after a couple minutes.  This is sleep training.

The goal is to reduce worry and anxiety about sleep, increasing confidence in sleep, and ultimately reducing or eliminating dependency on sleeping medication or alcohol for sleep.  A summary graph will show sleep trial times (which adjust each trial) and awareness in sleep (yes or no estimates after each sleep trial).  You’ll even be able to share your graph via email or Facebook 🙂

The SleepQ app will be convenient, research-based and affordable.  We’re still deciding on a price, but thinking under $5 with no ads.  Compared to $10-$20/month for sleeping pills we’re hoping it will be a good non-drug option for improving sleep.  We’re even programing in a module for taking a custom nap after a short night of sleep from something other than insomnia:  the choice will be either a quick “power nap”, or a custom nap where the user chooses how long they want to sleep after SleepQ detects that they fell asleep.

SleepQ is sleep training, not simply sleep tracking.  Yes, sleep training for insomnia takes some effort.  But so does getting through each day on very little sleep, right?

Til Morning,

Michael