At CES in Las Vegas this week, Somalytics is unveiling its SomaSleep eye-tracking sleep mask for at-home sleep monitoring.

The sleep mask uses eye tracking to unmask the wellness difficulties preventing better sleep by collecting data not before possible through an in-home device. It can track eye movements, including rapid eye movements, to help consumers understand sleep stages, quality and disruptions, which is key to gaining wellness insights and improving sleep.

“Sleep problems affect the lives of billions of people, and understanding the quality of sleep is at the heart of this,” said Barbara Barclay, CEO of Washington-based Somalytics. “REM is critical for learning and memory. Things such as snoring, back and leg problems, medication, antidepressants, concussions, and stroke and other neurological illnesses can disrupt sleep, and in particular REM. Until now, the only option to track REM was through sleep centres, where data are typically manually interpreted. With SomaSleep, we are enabling consumers to track all stages of sleep including REM in the comfort and privacy of their own homes through a lightweight, easy-to-use sleep mask. This is a transformational moment for in-home wellness and our team is thrilled to have a role in bringing to market such an important product.”

Eye movements occur during every sleep stage. Regular eye movements and REM can be disrupted by stress, injury, disease, medications and alcohol. For example, people with concussions often suffer from increased sleep disruptions and daytime fatigue.

SomaSleep can track and classify eye movements, including REM, for closed or open eyes during sleep or while the user is awake. This allows users while at home to see inside their sleep patterns in ways that have not previously been possible so they can better understand fatigue that occurs even though they theoretically slept, and can inform doctors when there are sleep pattern changes.

The mask will operate via battery for eight hours collecting health data. Due to the low power it requires to operate, the mask also stays cool. Data can be integrated via an SDK with consumer fitness trackers or will be available through the SomaSleep mobile app.

It uses Somalytics’ SomaCap CPC carbon-nanotube paper composite capacitive sensors to track eye movements. Miniature and sensitive to the human body, they can also be used for proximity sensing, gesture control, and touch and fluid monitoring. SomaCap sensors are designed to improve the human experience through innovations in consumer electronics, AR, VR, IoT, health, wellness and transportation.

Founded in 2021 as a spinoff of CoMotion, the University of Washington’s collaborative innovation hub, Somalytics is funded by hard science investment firm IP Group, with support from WRF Capital.

In August 2022, Somalytics closed a seed funding round of $1.9m to launch mass production of its sensors and develop concepts for consumer tech product development. By the end of 2023, it expects to be mass-producing its sensors from its new headquarters and manufacturing facility in Redmond, Washington, which it moved into this summer.