No one’s gonna argue about the importance of a good night’s sleep but I have to raise an eyebrow when I see someone selling a $2,500 alarm clock that claims to give you a better sleep but isn’t covered in valuable gemstones. The NightCove from Zyken uses a combination of specially engineered lighting and sounds that not only help you fall asleep and wake up more naturally but also seems to encourage the body’s phases of light sleep, deep sleep and REM sleep.

The colored lighting apparently helps influence the brain’s production of melatonin which is linked to the body’s transitions between feeling awake and feeling sleepy. So when you use a regular light bulb for reading before bed you can throw off the levels of melatonin which in turn makes it harder to fall asleep. The lighting in the NightCove however is specially tuned to keep things in balance which should make it easier to drift off when you’re ready. In the morning it then wakes you up gradually with a combination of blue and white lights to ensure you feel awake instead of wanting to hit the snooze button.

相信沒有人會對一夜好眠的重要性有所爭議，那么一種宣稱能讓你睡個好覺的標價2500美元卻沒有鑲嵌寶石的鬧鐘呢？一家法國公司Zyken推出了一款名為“睡灣”的睡眠燈，它綜合了光效和音效作用，不僅能使你入睡和醒來得更自然, 還能讓輕度睡眠、深度睡眠及眼球快動睡眠各階段更加協調。

很顯然，彩色照明會影響大腦褪黑激素的分泌，而褪黑激素與身體的覺醒和渴睡階段的過渡有聯系。如果你睡前閱讀用的是普通燈泡，褪黑激素的分泌被擾亂，你就會比較難以入睡。而“睡灣”的燈光設計就是保持事物的平衡，使你在需要的時候容易慢慢入睡，然后在早上用藍白光逐漸喚醒你，而不是讓你驟然醒來，卻仍是迷迷糊糊的想睡。