Amazon launches Halo Rise: a tabletop sleep sensor with a wake-up light

Amazon is aiming to expand its reach in the wellness market with the $140 Halo Rise, a new bedside sleep tracker that ships later this year that doubles as a sunrise alarm clock. The launch comes after Amazon released its first Halo Fitness Tracker in 2020 and its sequel, called the Halo Viewin 2021. It’s also another sign that Amazon and other tech giants are trying to fix the way we sleep.

The Halo Rise is designed to be an alternative to its Halo Band for those who prefer not to wear a wristband or smartwatch overnight but still want to monitor their sleep. Because it sits on your bedside table rather than your body, it can also gather information about environmental factors that might be affecting your sleep, according to Amazon.

The Halo Rise has no cameras or microphones. Instead, it uses low-energy sensors to detect micro-movements that occur during breathing. Amazon then uses machine learning to translate these movements into sleep stages and presents this information in the Halo app. The company says Halo Rise’s sleep algorithm has been trained and validated against polysomnography, the test doctors typically use to observe sleep patterns.

Amazon announced the Halo Rise at its annual fall product launch event on Wednesday, where it also announced the Scribe Kindlethe Omni QLED TV Lightthree new echo dot smart speakers and much more.

Price: $140
Release date: Q4

Designed to be an alternative to Amazon’s Halo Band for those who prefer not to wear a wristband or smartwatch at night, but still want to monitor their sleep, the Rise is a morning alarm clock with sensors that capture information about your movements and your surroundings.

The launch of Halo Rise comes as sleep tracking has become a bigger area of ​​focus for tech companies. Apple, for example, brought the ability to monitor different stages of sleep to the Apple Watch with its Watch OS 9 software update, launched on September 12. Fitbit and Samsung the two launched sleep analysis features over the past year that look at long-term patterns and emit an animal mascot to symbolize the user’s sleep.

And Google, owner of Fitbit, has integrated sleep tracking into its Second-generation Nest Hub from 2021. This device also uses non-contact radar to observe sleep stages, but it is also supposed to be a multifunctional smart home device. That’s unlike the Halo Rise, which was designed purely for sleep. While the lack of a microphone is comforting from a privacy perspective, it also means the Halo Rise can’t detect snoring or coughing like the Nest Hub.

Amazon’s sleep-sensing gadget debuts at a time when the tech industry is under intense scrutiny over the amount of personal data. data companies collect and how this information is protected. Amazon says Halo Rise sends breathing patterns and micro-movements to the cloud where they’re translated into sleep stages, but that data is encrypted in transit and in the cloud and automatically deleted after 10 days. Amazon also says the data always remains on the device until a sleep session is initiated, and it won’t sell health data or use that information for marketing, product recommendations products or advertising.

Halo Rise owners will also be able to upload and delete their health data like with the Halo Band. Amazon says the device is trained to scan only the nearest person and not other people or pets in the same bed. Halo Rise’s algorithms are only trained to detect sleep and won’t detect any other activity in the bedroom, according to Amazon.

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When it comes to the sleep-related metrics Halo Rise can collect, there’s not much that sets it apart from Amazon’s Halo tapes. Like Amazon’s wearables, it can show how long you’ve spent in certain sleep stages and provide a sleep score that assesses sleep quality. It also comes with a six-month subscription to Amazon Halo, which usually costs $4 per month.

According to Amazon, one of the biggest advantages of using Halo Rise over Halo Tape is that you don’t have to wear anything to sleep to get that data. Unlike bands, the Halo Rise can also sense certain things in your environment, like humidity, temperature, and light, that could make it hard to get a good night’s sleep. Amazon hasn’t said whether it plans to create any new metrics or insights based on data from Halo Rise and the Halo Group.

Since the Halo Rise is meant to be placed on your bedside table, it also doubles as an alarm clock and wake-up light. Amazon says it should wake you up at the optimal time based on your sleep stages. In addition to the previously mentioned environmental sensors, the Halo Rise also includes a digital clock with physical buttons and a small speaker for the alarm. The wake-up light consists of 300 lux LEDs in the shape of a semicircle.

There’s no built-in Alexa functionality since the Halo Rise was designed specifically for sleep. But if you have an Echo, you can pair it with the Halo Rise so you can ask Alexa how you slept or incorporate the Rise into a bedtime routine.

The launch of a device like the Halo Rise not only helps Amazon compete more closely with rivals like Google and Apple, but it could also give the company an even stronger foothold in the home. Amazon accounted for 28.2% of the global smart speaker and smart display market in the first quarter of 2022, according to Strategy Analytics. Google is Amazon’s closest competitor, claiming 17.2% of the market over the same period.

The information in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended to constitute medical or health advice. Always consult a physician or other qualified health care provider with any questions you may have about a medical condition or health goals.