Misfit’s new Beddit gadget monitors your body while you sleep

Fitness and health might be a landscape best defined by how products work together. Or, how they don’t. But it seems that fitness trackers and other wellness accessories are in a hurry to start dovetailing in 2014. Case in point: Misfit, makers of the Shine fitness tracker, have announced the Misfit Beddit Sleep System, a partnership with Beddit, a $149.99 under-the-bed sleep tracker that offers deeper analysis than what’s already available when wearing a Shine on your wrist. Beddit isn’t new: it launched earlier this year as a thin, slide-under-the-mattress peripheral that’s sensitive enough to record heart rate, snoring, movement and breathing data. You don’t need to wear anything while using it, either: Beddit pairs with the Misfit app automatically via Bluetooth. Misfit’s partnership with Beddit adds integration with their existing fitness app and Shine fitness tracker, plus new algorithms to work with Beddit.

Wearable computing startup Misfit, best known for its Shine activity tracker, announced a new piece of hardware on Thursday. But unlike the Shine, you don’t wear this sensor-laden product – the Misfit Beddit Sleep System is “worn” on a bed, underneath the sheets. The Beddit is focused on measuring sleep cycles and quality. The actual device is a skinny, sensor-laden dongle that is meant to semi-permanently lie on top of a mattress. Sensors in the hardware measure a number of biometric signals, using ballistocardiography, movement, and sound data to estimate respiration, heart rate, and even snoring. Like the Shine, the Beddit transmits this data to the Misfit app over Bluetooth. Later this fall, a new version will come out that uses the Bluetooth Low Energy standard. Misfit’s Shine wearable has sleep tracking capabilities, but as Katie Fehrenbacher noted in her weekend with the wearable tracker, users have to activate the Shine by tapping it three times before starting an activity. So if you forgot to tap your Shine before hitting the hay, you’d lose your stats for the night.The Beddit is intended to remove a barrier to consistent sleep tracking by requiring less active participation from the user. The Misfit Shine found success as a device with slightly more attractive industrial design that other wearable trackers. The Beddit’s looks are far less important; it’s meant to be hidden under sheets and covers. Last month, Misfit announced that it intends to start licensing its proprietary sensor algorithms, starting with an app that uses the accelerometer on the Pebble smartwatch to turn it into a pedometer. So it’s clear that Misfit isn’t making hardware for hardware’s sake, but is rather filling a specific niche with the Beddit — people who want to specifically track their sleep.