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| United States Patent Application |
20110160619
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| Kind Code
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A1
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Gabara; Asher
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June 30, 2011
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METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR A SCENTED ALARM CLOCK BASED ON SLEEP STATE
Abstract
A method and apparatus for affecting the dreams of the subject or
individual is presented. The apparatus first predicts or detects the
desired sleep state and presents a scent to the subject. The apparatus
then awakens the subject after a given period of time using external
stimulus. The desired sleep state may be the REM sleep state, and the
period of time may be one minute. Upon awakening, the subject will recall
dreams that have been affected by the emitted scent. If the scent is
pleasant, then the subject will recall having pleasant dreams.
| Inventors: |
Gabara; Asher; (Murray Hill, NJ)
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| Assignee: |
LCtank LLC
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| Serial No.:
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651279 |
| Series Code:
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12
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| Filed:
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December 31, 2009 |
| Current U.S. Class: |
600/595; 368/10; 600/27 |
| Class at Publication: |
600/595; 600/27; 368/10 |
| International Class: |
A61B 5/11 20060101 A61B005/11; A61M 21/00 20060101 A61M021/00; G04B 47/00 20060101 G04B047/00 |
Claims
1. An alarm clock comprising: a sleep state detector coupled to a subject
to determine when said subject is in a given sleep state; a scent applied
to said subject in said given sleep state; a processor coupled to said
sleep state detector to determine when to apply at least one stimulus to
awaken said subject.
2. The apparatus of claim 1, whereby said given sleep state is a
dream-heavy REM (Rapid Eye Movement) state.
3. The apparatus of claim 1, whereby said stimulus is a way to awaken
said subject selected from the group consisting of light, sound, touch
and movement.
4. The apparatus of claim 1, whereby said processor calculates a time
period.
5. The apparatus of claim 4, whereby said time period is one minute.
6. The apparatus of claim 3, whereby a second stimulus is selected from
said group.
7. The apparatus of claim 1, whereby said scent creates undesirable
dreams.
8. The apparatus of claim 1, whereby said scent creates pleasant dreams.
9. The apparatus of claim 1, whereby said subject is awoken in a
preferred state.
10. A method of waking a subject comprising the steps of: applying a
scent to said subject sleeping in a given sleep state; waiting a first
time period; and waking said subject.
11. The method of claim 10, further comprising the steps of: a sleep
state detector coupled to said subject to determine when said subject is
in said given sleep state.
12. The method of claim 11, wherein said given sleep state is a
dream-heavy state.
13. The method of claim 11, further comprising the steps of: a processor
coupled to said sleep state detector to calculate when to apply at least
one stimulus.
14. The method of claim 13, wherein said waking occurs by the application
of said at least one stimulus to awaken said subject.
15. The method of claim 14, wherein said stimulus is a way to awaken said
subject selected from the group consisting of light, sound, touch and
movement.
16. The method of claim 10, wherein said subject is placed into a
preferred state.
17. The method of claim 10, wherein said scent creates pleasant dreams.
18. The method of claim 10, wherein said scent creates undesirable
dreams.
19. An alarm clock comprising: a sleep state detector coupled to a
subject; a scent being applied to said subject in a sleep state; and a
processor coupled to said sleep state detector to determine when to apply
at least one stimulus to awaken said subject.
20. The apparatus of claim 19, whereby said sleep state is the
dream-heavy REM (Rapid Eye Movement) state.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] Sleep can have several states; some are the "light sleep state",
"deep sleep state" and an REM (Rapid Eye Movement) state. Being awoken
from these different states can influence the state of the awoken
sleeper. Ideally, once being awoken from a sleep, a desirable situation
would be to wake in a pleasant state from a pleasant dream. In a paper by
RebecCa Carroll of the National Geographic News "Smells Influence Dreams,
Study Says," Boris Stuck of the University Hospital Mannheim in Germany
has shown that when a scent is smelled by a person in REM sleep, one
minute prior to waking, that the person's dreams will be affected. When
the scent is positive, such as that of a rose, the person will recall
having positive dreams.
[0002] There are several existing devices that have the intention of
affecting the user's sleep and dreams. One such device, the Sleeptracker
(manufactured by Innovative Sleep Solutions, Inc., of Atlanta, Ga., USA),
is worn on the wrist and wakens the user during light sleep, which is
determined by tracking the movement of the user's body.
[0003] Stanford University holds U.S. Pat. No. 6,468,234, entitled
"SleepSmart", and was published on 22 Aug. 1998. This document relates to
a method and apparatus for measuring sleep quality that utilizes pressure
and temperature sensors incorporated in a sheet, which can be laid on top
of a conventional mattress. The apparatus comprises one or more layers of
arrays of integrated pressure and/or temperature sensor pads for
collecting data relating to physical properties such as an individual's
position, temperature, sound, vibration and movement.
[0004] Brown University has US patent application number 2006/0293608 that
was published on Dec. 28, 2006. This application describes a device and a
method for waking a user in a desired sleep state. The device may predict
an occurrence when the user will be in the desired sleep state, such as
light sleep, and wake the user during that predicted occurrence.
[0005] This device, by Axon Sleep Research Laboratories (Providence, R.I.,
USA) is an intelligent alarm clock (also called "SleepSmart") that
monitors sleep cycles and attempts to awaken the user at an optimal point
in the sleep cycle. It appears that the name "SleepSmart" is used by both
the Stanford and Axon's references but refer to different aspects of
sleep. SleepSmart in Axon requires the user to sleep with a headband that
measures physiological data. It has also been suggested that sleep
staging can be obtained from respiration and heart rate information
during sleep.
[0006] Another device is the aXbo Sleep Phase Alarm Clock which is a
wristband that reads body movements. In addition, a Wake n' Bacon is a
device that starts cooking bacon ten minutes before wake-up time. There
are also devices that awake the users by light rather than by sound.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] The aforementioned effect is the central idea behind an alarm clock
that will emit a scent one minute prior to going off, in order to affect
the dreams of the user.
[0008] The proposed device can awake the user while the user is in the
dream-heavy REM state. This is in fact the more natural state to be
awoken. Dr. Gregory Belenky, a sleep expert at Washington State
University Spokane, said light stage sleep isn't the best time to be
woken by an alarm. He says that you are instead most likely to wake up
out of a dream, and that "(a light sleep stage) is the hardest time to
wake a person up unnaturally."
[0009] One minute prior to the alarm, a scent will be emitted by the
device. If the scent is pleasant, then the dreams of the user will be
pleasant. At alarm time, the user will be awakened, either by sound, by
light, or by both.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0010] Please note that the drawings shown in this specification may not
be drawn to scale and the relative dimensions of various elements in the
diagrams are depicted schematically and not to scale.
[0011] FIG. 1 shows a person sleeping.
[0012] FIG. 2 illustrates a positive scent being given to the person.
[0013] FIG. 3 depicts a negative scent being given to the person.
[0014] FIG. 4 shows an sleep state detector that can determine whether the
person is in REM sleep.
[0015] FIG. 5 depicts the flowchart of the waking up sequence of this
inventive technique.
[0016] FIG. 6 shows an sleep state detector leading to the emission of a
scent.
[0017] FIG. 7 depicts an sleep state detector using the stimulus of light
to awake the person of this inventive technique after the scent is
emitted.
[0018] FIG. 8 depicts an sleep state detector using the stimulus of sound
to awake the person of this inventive technique after the scent is
emitted.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0019] FIG. 1 illustrates a view 1-1 of a typical subject 1-3 sleeping on
a bed 1-2. The subject's head in on a pillow 1-4. This is the approximate
position and posture of a typical subject sleeping.
[0020] A positive scent 2-3, hie that of a rose, candy, perfume, etc. can
be extracted from a container 2-5 as depicted in FIG. 2. This view 2-1
shows the subject having positive dreams 2-2 after inhaling the positive
scent 2-3 during an REM sleep state. A spinning fan 2-4 diffuses or
directs the scent towards the subject.
[0021] A negative scent 3-3, like that of a rotten egg, spoiled meat,
waste products, etc. can be extracted from a aerosol can 3-4 as depicted
in FIG. 3. This view 3-1 shows the subject having negative dreams 3-2
after inhaling the negative scent 3-3 during an REM sleep state. Unlike
before, an aerosol can 32 is used as an alternative way to diffuse or
direct the scent towards the subject.
[0022] A system 4-1 to detect when the subject is in REM sleep 4-2 is
illustrated in FIG. 4. The sleep state detector 4-3 may need to be in
contact with the subject; however, non-contact techniques can be
performed. For example, in patent application number 2007/0118054 by
EarlySense, their methods employ sensors, for example, non-contact
sensors, adapted to detect vital signs, such as heart rate or respiration
rate, to produce signals that can be analyzed for trends, for deviations,
or for comparison to prior conditions or criteria.
[0023] FIG. 5 illustrates a flowchart 5-1 showing one embodiment of the
invention. The sleep state detector 5-2 feeds collected information to
the REM analyzer 5-3. The REM analyzer may be coupled to a processor (not
shown) to extract statistical data. If REM sleep is detected and it is
the appropriate duration of time before the stimulus of the alarm, a
scent 5-4 is emitted; a period of time 5-5 is used for the scent to react
on the subject. After this period of time has elapsed, the stimulus of
the alarm clock 5-6 is enabled. This stimulus awakens the subject out of
a dream affected by the scent 5-7.
[0024] The sleep state detector in FIG. 6 can be applied to a processor
6-2 that issues a stimulus 6-3 to control 6-4 the fan that displaces 6-5
the scent to the person. The spinning fan diffuses the scent towards the
subject. The person after inhaling the scent during an REM sleep state
will start having dreams affected by the scent.
[0025] FIG. 7 depicts an added stimulus control 7-2 that enables the
lights 7-3 that are applied 7-4 to the subject. The lights 7-3 are
enabled after the subject has had an opportunity to have dreams affected
by the emitted scent.
[0026] FIG. 8 depicts a different added stimulus control 8-2 that enables
a sound 8-3 that is applied 8-4 to the subject. The sound 8-3 is enabled
after the subject has had an opportunity to have dreams affected by the
emitted scent.
[0027] It is understood that the above description are only illustrative
of the principle of the current invention. It is understood that the
various embodiments of the invention, although different, are not
mutually exclusive. In accordance with these principles, those skilled in
the art may devise numerous modifications without departing from the
spirit and scope of the invention. For example, the sound in FIG. 8 can
be applied to the subject using personal headphones or a large speaker
positioned on a shelf. Also, both the lights and the sound can be applied
to the subject during the stimulus period.
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