The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here.
Name: SleepBot
Quick Pitch: SleepBot is a free Android app that tracks your sleep patterns — no headband or wristband required.
Genius Idea: Spots problem areas in your sleep over time.
Having trouble staying up at work? Not functioning at your best? The SleepBot app — which tracks, logs and analyzes sleeping patterns — may help.
The SleepBot app was dreamt up by two sleep-deprived college sophomores in 2010. Jane Zhu was a finance and marketing major at NYU when she met Edison Wang, an electrical engineering major at Cooper Union.
"We were both college students and up at 5 a.m. in the morning," Zhu told Mashable. "We were the only people that were always up, so we started talking to each other. I started joking with him saying, 'wouldn't it be cool if there was a way to track how much sleep we're missing?'"
The duo wanted to create a tool that would let individuals punch in and punch out of slumber. The last thing most people touch before bedtime is their phone, Zhu says.
The students didn't set out to form a tech startup until the numbers started rolling in. About 70,000 to 80,000 users currently track their nighttime routine on the app every week. The number of installations from Google Play are even higher.
"To be honest, it didn't start off as a business," she says. "We have a goal to actually help people. But, we know that it's possible now because of the demand of people who want to do this for sleep."
SleepBot is now manned by a New York City-based team of three. In its current incarnation, the app offers users a way to track sleep, set alarms, get sleep tips and view stats online.
Users can compare their sleep patterns in monthly, weekly or day-to-day periods. A sleep report card displays total rest time, cumulative debt, average daily sleep and their most frequent bedtime and waketime.
The web platform syncs up with the mobile platform. Updates and data sharing to Facebook or Twitter can take place on a desktop or mobile device.
SleepBot won an NYU-sponsored Startup Challenge in May. The $40,000 prize money allowed them to lease an office, boost servers and start working on the upcoming iOS application.
The team wants to incorporate mobile accelerometer readings to the app's reports. Most smartphones have accelerometers to track movement. Zhu explains this is something the readers really want. She hopes to have the feature available with an app update by August. Another future feature: the ability to include hashtags in nightly sleep reviews.
"You can then compare all your notes and sleep ratings with the #alcohol tag to see how it affects how well you sleep," Zhu says. The variables to track are up to the user.
The next step for the startup is to create a digital space for its passionate sleep community. The team sees the sleep management app growing into a lifestyle brand that connects doctors and retailers to interested users.
"We didn't realize that sleep was a social issue," Zhu said. "We want SleepBot to be a lifestyle app, not a help app. We don't want it to be associated with 'how much medication should i take?' We want people to find out how they can improve their lives and have people to communicate with."
"We want to change the people view sleep," she adds. "It's something that people see out of their control or something they can't manage. Sleep can be something they can actively schedule and enjoy."
Thumbnail image courtesy of Flickr, Jim Blob Blann
Series Supported by Microsoft BizSpark
The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark, a startup program that gives you three-year access to the latest Microsoft development tools, as well as connecting you to a nationwide network of investors and incubators. There are no upfront costs, so if your business is privately owned, less than three years old, and generates less than U.S.$1 million in annual revenue, you can sign up today.
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