Ever since I was a little girl I’ve had trouble falling asleep. 7-year old me didn’t mind though, and was perfectly happy lying awake at 3am reading. Now I’m older. And I need my sleep. What used to be hours of night-time bliss are now hours of terror, every minute awake driving me increasingly closer to insanity.
So when I heard about this Dreampad thing I paid attention.
The Dreampad?
It’s a pillow that looks normal in every way, except that it isn’t. The Dreampad uses intrasound technology to play music, so the sound travels via bone conduction. This means you only hear the music when your head is lying on the pillow. The music is played through the Dreampad app on your phone, and you can connect it to the pillow using Bluetooth or an aux cable.
The Dreampad app offers 10 different tunes that all are handpicked for their particularly soothing and relaxing sounds.
Diary of an insomniac
Dear Diary, tonight’s the first night I will try out the Dreampad, let’s see how it goes!
22.00pm: The pillow’s really comfortable. I’d love this pillow, even without fancy intrasound technology music.
22.30pm: I can pick the music I wanna listen to and for how long I want it to play. Okay, let’s see what kind I should pick. Ooh, Tranquil Landscapes? Moonrise? Or how about Seaside Strings?
22.45pm: Ambient soundscapes mixed with the soothing swell of crashing waves? Seaside Strings it is!
23.00pm: This is interesting. First I hear nothing, then all of the sudden I do. It doesn’t feel like the sound is coming from anywhere – it’s as though the music’s inside me.
23.15pm: It’s hypnotic. The ambient sounds roll over my mind, leaving no room for the thoughts that always start stirring and racing the minute I go to bed.
00.00am: I’m not asleep, but I’m not fully awake either. I enter a pitch-shifted slumber occupied by vivid, wacky dreams. For a moment, I felt like I was Truman Burbank from the Truman Show, who just discovered that his whole life is a film set.
00.15am: After some time in a drowsy limbo, I finally drift off to real sleep.
08.00am: Dear Diary, I don’t remember the music stopping after the scheduled two hours, which means I must’ve fallen asleep before. And, for pre-Dreampad me, lying awake for two hours before falling asleep is very standard. The pillow worked – yay!
So…
A medication-free sleeping solution is what all insomniacs wish for. After using the Dreampad for a week, I learned it made me fall asleep quicker than I usually do, but as a side effect, it gave me some seriously psychedelic dreams, unlike anything I’ve ever experienced.
But to be totally honest, I’d rather go on a trip in my dreams every night if it means I can get some solid sleep.
However, at $179, the pillow doesn’t come cheap, but it might be a small price to pay for an insomniac. Plus, it’s cheaper than dropping acid every night.
Get the TNW newsletter
Get the most important tech news in your inbox each week.