Smart Nora is a startup with an innovative product designed to stop people from snoring and waking up their partners.
I’ve been using my Smart Nora now for a couple weeks, and I have to say, it’s well designed and seems to work. I’ve felt more rested and haven’t heard any complaints from my partner.
The first thing that delighted me was the ease of setup. It’s literally braindead simple. I took it out of the box and in 5 minutes had it working. To me, that’s a must because I hate reading instructions.
The device works by inflating a pillow whenever it hears you start snoring. The movement of the inflating pillow is just enough to make the muscles in your throat contract, and the snoring usually stops. I was in Taiwan a couple years ago talking to a researcher who was designing a bed to do exactly this. The beauty of Smart Nora is that you don’t need to buy a bed.
You can see in the diagram below how it works:
The other great thing about Smart Nora is that it’s very portable. I haven’t taken it on a plane yet, so I don’t know how the TSA will react, but the design is clever. It all fits in one small box and comes with a charger and battery.
Everything about the design is smart, from the rechargeable mouse-like sensor device that can rest on your nightstand or be position on the wall above your head to the plastic pillow that inflates.
Another thing I noticed is that it’s quiet. It never woke me up. I’m a light sleeper, so this is a big plus.
If you breathe in deeply and exhale while you are awake, that can trigger a false alarm, but this doesn’t happen often. And you can set a feature that will delay it turning on, so you can fall sound asleep before it begins monitoring you.
Overall, I’d give it a 5 out of 5 stars for design. Is it the ultimate solution for snoring? I’m not sure, but it’s a good step along the way.
