I slept with Zeo for months (the other learning technology)

It seems like months since I blogged about 'Tracking is the other learning technology' and made a review of the popular tracking devices Fitbit. And in fact it has been months. But the FitBit device isn't the only one I've been testing out, I also slept with Zeo for months. (Are you also curious if a title like that attracts more readers? :-) )

A good night's sleep is very important for our health and general performance. Ask a lot of your friends how they're sleeping, and you'll find a lot report sleeping problems or a chronic lack of sleep. Maybe some of your friends went to a sleep clinic to have their sleep patterns observed. So how well do you sleep? On average I'm sleeping 90. Yes, it's quantifiable...

What is it and what does it do?

Essentially myZeo is a headband you put on when you sleep. A bit more technically it is a low cost, wireless one-sensor EEG scanning headband. It measures the sleep levels (Wake-REM-Light-Deep sleep) in 5 minute increments. From those measurements Zeo calculates their proprietary ZQ score or sleeping coefficient. The higher that number, the better. The longer you sleep and the deeper, the higher that number gets. You can buy a bedside version, which is basically a good alarm clock. You can also buy the mobile version that syncs the data via bluetooth to your mobile or tablet. Both Apple and Android apps exist. On the picture above you can see me with the mobile headband version and a view on the app. Zeo recommends replacing the headband strip (which holds the contact points to your forehead) every 4 months to keep the measurement accurate. The installation was easy, and setting up the device to sync with my Android tablet as well. I do have to make a side note that I could not get the Android app to work on my HTC Legend smartphone, but it does work on my Asus EeePad Tablet. 

The app can sync your sleeping data to your myZeo.com account. In fact, it is possible to give third party apps access to this data too. On the Zeo site, you'll find reports on your sleep, a daily sleeping journal you can quickly fill in every morning, trend reports, and an automated coaching programme.

How good or bad is it?

So is this as detailed as the data you'd get in a sleep lab? I would hope not seeing the price different: a Zeo will cost you from 99 to 150 US$, including access to their accompanying website. For that price you actually get the basic data on the 4 sleep levels in the comfort of your own home and measured over time. That is a big plus for me comparing sleeping one night in a hospital (which is a different setting from your normal sleeping pattern anyway). In a sleep clinic you get extra: they'd also put a camera and microphone on you to record snoring, a movement sensor to track sudden movements of your legs that may wake you up, etc.

But seen the fact so many people would like to sleep better, this 'mini sleep lab' in your own house goes a long way: it allows people to track their sleep over time, and do self-experiments. It helps you to understand what influences a good or bad night of sleep. Zeo just released an iPhone app called 'Sleep 101' that gives basic advice for a better sleep. Zeo does a great effort in helping you to make sense of the data, and move that into actions, which is the whole point anyway. Zeo has been on the market for a few years now, so they probably have the biggest database in the world on people's sleeping patterns over time. That has got to be a great benchmark for your own sleeping patterns!

I find their website OK, but it is less modern and stylish than the FitBit one we reviewed earlier. I also don't understand the 'double login': the store on the site and the coaching/reporting feature seem to have two different logins.

On the plus side: they are open. Developers and other apps can make use of their API to make further sense of the data or combine it with other tracking data. The site also allows to export your data in raw format.

Where's the learning?

The tag line of the Zeo is 'The more you know, the better you sleep', which is closely in line with the Quantified Self movement's motto of 'knowledge through numbers.' A great example of someone who took the Zeo and did self-exeriments is in this Gwern blog post (eg what are the effect of Vitamin D?).

The combination of getting your numbers every morning and filling in the sleeping journal is very powerful. It allows for correlations to be made (one of the reporting functions). But by far the best learning feature on the Zeo I find their automated coaching program. When you activate the program (included for free), you enter a 7 step program. The first week is a baseline measurement to get an accurate view on your sleeping patterns. Then every other week they make you do one change to the baseline and measure how that works out. You get frequent mails with updates on the coaching, and can actually figure out what works for you. I tried the coaching programme too and I found that the suggestion to listen to relaxation music or voices before bed time actually works in the opposite way for me: it irritates me and I sleep worse. On the other hand, the factor that most contributes to my sleep score is a fixed pattern of when to go to sleep and when to wake up.
The coaching program is actually a form of self-science (science experiments with N=1). You change one thing, measure the results and move on. It is also something I see as realistic. Apart from die-hard Quantified Self people, most people will try out these trackers for a few months, but not more than that. But that's enough time to actually create some sustainable new habits.

In summary, I give the Zeo a 4/5 rating. If the web site looked a bit more contemporary and the Android apps included the same functionality as the iPhone or web app, they'd gotten more. I've learned what works for my sleep health, and that was the whole point. The automated coaching approach is a very powerful one, I'd hope to find back in a lot more tracking devices. That's where the learning support actually is.