Dubbed the world’s first daytime sleep training system, URGONight helps people suffering from sleeping problems using neurofeedback therapy and app-based exercises to produce the brainwaves clinically associated with sleep.
Developed over four years by French healthtech start-up Urgo, an international healthcare group, its neuroscientists and sleep experts claim it can help wearers fall asleep 40% faster, and reduce how often they wake up in the middle of the night by 53%.
According to World Sleep Society statistics, sleep problems constitute a global epidemic that threatens the health and quality of life for up to 45% of the world’s population
Guirec Le Lous, founder of Urgo subsidiary URGOTECH, the company behind URGONight, said: “Just as you can train your body to run faster, jump higher, swim further or become more flexible, clinical studies have shown neurofeedback therapy can help people learn how to improve the quality of their sleep.”
How does URGONight provide a mental muscle workout?
sleep (Credit: URGONight)
Unlike sleep tracking technologies that simply monitor and manage conditions or prescription medications that can cause side effects, URGONight has taken a natural approach to help insomniacs achieve better sleep and health outcomes without forming any dependencies.
Neurofeedback therapies use real-time displays of brainwave activity, audio and visual cues to identify and modify behaviour to influence a desired outcome.
They are used to treat and manage conditions such as sleep and ADHD as well as improve critical thinking, athletic capabilities and musical performances.
Designed to be used for 20 minutes a day, three times a week, the “non-invasive, easy and comfortable” headband consists of an electroencephalogram to monitor and record the electrical activity of the brain when used and worn during the day.
The adjustable band is also equipped with sophisticated sensors to measure the brainwave activity within the sensorimotor cortex – an area of the brain that covers the primary sensory and motor areas of the user’s brain- without producing sounds or waves itself.
As the production of increasing sensorimotor waves during the day corresponds with better quality of sleep, the URGONight app therefore aims to produce more of these brain waves through a series of exercises with its connected training app.
Within the app, users’ brainwaves are displayed in real-time to observe the changes before they start the dedicated 20 minute training exercises, which assign users with customised tasks to ensure their brains are in a constant learning curve and their results continue to improve over time.
Tasks included range from growing leaves on trees, herding jellyfish and drawing relaxing patterns, users can access stats and achievements to share on social media.
Mr Le Lous said: “The neurofeedback therapy technology has been used in clinical sleep centres around the world for decades and now with URGONight, we are making it more fun and accessible and conveniently usable in the comfort of the home.”
Users are instructed to establish a base threshold of sensorimotor activity by measuring them once with their eyes open and then closed for 30 seconds.
This sets their unique threshold that determines the intensity of the exercises and rewards required to progress, which ensures they are constantly challenged and motivated to produce ever increasing levels of sensorimotor.
Scientists behind URGONight believe that users training with URGONight will begin to see results after ten-15 sessions and “sustainable results after three months of use”.
