Video: Japanese robot stops people from snoring
Scientists at Tokyo's Waseda University in Japan may have found a solution for snorers. Jukusui-kun is a robot that looks like a big stuffed polar bear and can stop people from snoring in their sleep. Its name means deep sleep in Japanese.
In order to benefit from the bear, the snore-prone must sleep under a sheet with built-in sensors and a microphone that detects loud noises. They also have to put their hand into a device to measure their blood oxygen levels. When blood oxygen levels drop, which indicates the type of breathing associated with snoring, the polar bear tickles the sleeper's forehead with its paw, which causes the person asleep to "turn over and stop snoring without waking," the Telegraph reports. And at more drastic times, when the microphone in the sheet detects a loud enough snore, the bear will take matters into its own paws and flip the person's head over himself.
Could there finally be a solution for heavy snorers--and their roommates? Perhaps, but they'll have to wait a little while longer because Jukusui-kun has yet to hit stores.
[via the Telegraph]
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