Vision:

In addition to the clear, direct usage of NapTech, we envision the device as being a major contributor to the idea of a "smart space" that adapts to the user rather than the other way around. The power of NapTech stems from its acknowledgement of the need for natural light to uplift a person's mood and to maintain physical, emotional, and mental health along with the acknowledgement of the burdensome effect that natural light can cause when trying to rest. NapTech's consideration for the user along with its ability to promote an ambient environment while providing insights about social and environmental factors makes it a valuable asset that is applicable for multiple settings and purposes.

NapTech as a resting mattress:

Initially, in the scope of the project, the goal was to establish NapTech's functionality by ensuring that it responds to applied pressure appropriately. Once introduced to the market, we envision NapTech being an ergonomic mattress that ensures that the user maintains a proper back posture, gets a peaceful sleep with appropriate exposure to sunlight once they wake up, and prevents the penetration of disturbing sunlight during their rest. To achieve the goal of being an ergonomic mattress, NapTech would be manufactured using material that is stiff enough to support a person's weight during their rest. Meanwhile, it would be soft enough to provide comfort to the user as it absorbs their form. In addition to proper material selection, NapTech would maintain its ergonomic design by being manufactured according to established dimensions that are associated with proper and healthy back curvature. Meanwhile, it would consider an appropriate tolerance that allows variations in mattress stiffness without compensating the body's fit into the healthy sleeping posture.

As a resting mattress, we believe that NapTech could be integrated into shared professional resting areas, such as our studio, or companies' break rooms. Additionally, NapTech could be integrated into people's homes. As technology emerges, we tend to lead a busy life to the extent that we forget to do simple activities that we regularly do, such as closing the blinds at night. We don't realize that we forgot to do so until the morning, where we forcefully and disruptively wake up. That being said, a technology such as NapTech could be used to accommodate for such a lifestyle by ensuring that the blinds close as soon as a person lies on the mattress and open as soon as the person wakes up.

NapTech Integrated into Seats and Couches:

As NapTech considers a person’s spinal curvature when lying down by adopting suitable material and curvature, this concept could be expanded to living areas, seats, and couches to also create a suitable environment. As humans, our postures are strongly tied with our emotions and to our environment. Consequently, we tend to have a certain spinal form when we’re sitting casually that differs from the form that we adopt as we engage in a serious conversation or task[1] . Additionally, different amounts of light enable different amount of focus and are associated with different emotions. An increase in the amount of light is usually associated with higher intensity, focus, and productivity [2]. In context, once NapTech is installed into seats and couches, the blinds would be completely open when a person is sitting upright. They would also be half open if the person’s curvature is not completely upright, but also not completely lying down. By doing so, NapTech would ensure that the user is provided with the right amount of light needed to carry the intended purpose that they are trying to fulfill in their current setting.

NapTech as a Data Collection Platform

As NapTech reacts according to the occupancy of a given space, it could be used to indicate the usability of spaces. One of the use cases in which such an advantage could be leveraged is managerial feedback on productivity and cost allocation. Once installed in offices, NapTech could reveal to the management the amount of time in which the curtains are closed or do not allow a certain amount of light in, hence providing an overview on the productivity of the employee or the quality of the work being done.

Furthermore, we envision NapTech as a mean that would enable the management to assess the usability of different spaces. By doing so, the management would be able to allocate its budget accordingly so that more clustered areas receive a greater budget and are given more attention that less clustered areas. Alternatively, the management could use NapTech to determine necessary measures required to benefit from underutilized areas.

Lastly, given that the social aspect and the culture are central concepts to the overall perception and evaluation of any company, NapTech could be a mean used to obtain an overarching view of a company’s environment and culture. To do so, NapTech would report on the usability of shared spaces. Once installed in seats and couches, NapTech would also report on the general interpreted mood as interpreted from the amount of light. The aggregates of the results would then holistically be used to assess the company culture from a social aspect on professional rating platforms such as Yelp, Indeed, or LinkedIn.

NapTech as a Part of a Smart Ecosystem:

In addition to creating a relaxing environment by controlling natural light, we envision the interpretation of a person’s posture and associated mood as being triggers to adjust the lighting contained in the room to promote a suitable environment that aligns with the user’s intension. We also believe that music is a desirable feature that could further promote the ambience of the environment that we are aiming to achieve. Thus, once NapTech detects a certain posture, it would associate it with a given mood, and adjust the lighting and play suitable music simultaneously to provide a soothing environment for the user.  

[1] O'Sullivan, P. B., Smith, A. J., Beales, D. J., & Straker, L. M. (2011). Association of biopsychosocial factors with degree of slump in sitting posture and self-report of back pain in adolescents: a cross-sectional study. Physical therapy, 91(4), 470-483.

[2] LeGates, T. A., Altimus, C. M., Wang, H., Lee, H. K., Yang, S., Zhao, H., ... & Hattar, S. (2012). Aberrant light directly impairs mood and learning through melanopsin-expressing neurons. Nature, 491(7425), 594.