Bose thinks it can give you a better night's sleep with these earbuds

IT’S true that most of us don’t get enough sleep. But can a pair of earphones that play soothing sounds and block out the outside world help us get a better quality of shut-eye?

That’s the theory behind a new product from high-end headphone maker Bose.

It’s new noise-masking Sleepbuds go on sale this weekend in the US after a successful crowd-funding campaign.

“We want to help you sleep better by masking unwanted noise in the bedroom and replacing it with soothing sounds,” the company says.

The crowd-funding campaign was a way for the company to get feedback from early adopters during a fairly experimental phase of product development before going on the market.

“We’re looking for motivated people to try them out and tell us what they think. Your feedback will help us refine the product before we release it for worldwide distribution,” the Indigogo page read.

As uncomfortable as it might sound to some people, the wireless earbuds are designed to stay in your ears overnight.

They don’t play music or audio from external devices — which seems like a huge limitation for a product that costs $US250 ($338). Instead they simply play soothing sounds that are designed to mask or block out noise like traffic or you partner’s snoring.

Bose is well known for its noise cancelling technology that features in its high-end headphones like the QuietComfort II but such engineering isn’t used here. Such technology is good for blocking out the low frequency rumbling like that of an aeroplane cabin for example but not for high pitch voices.

“Noise-masking technology is a better solution for the range of sounds that keep you awake — especially voice-based frequencies,” the company says. The Sleepbuds “combine passive blocking of sleep-disturbing sounds with a choice of sounds engineered to mask what gets past the blocking by the eartips.

Another potential benefit of such a product is that you can set wake-up alarms that only you can hear, so you won’t disturb the person sleeping next to you.

You pair the earphones with the Bose app and choose from one of 10 pre-loaded soothing sounds such as rolling waves crashing on a beach or a crackling campfire. The company says it will continue to add more sounds to the app.

Research shows that about 40 per cent of Australians don’t get enough sleep — a situation supposedly costing us $66 billion a year in health bills, lost productivity and wellbeing.

Like many consumers, the tech giants of the world are becoming increasingly preoccupied with “wellness”.

Brian Mulcahey, who has the title of Category Director for Wellness at Bose, naturally thinks the Sleepbuds will be a hit among consumers looking to improve their all important wellbeing.

“I really believe that, with this solution to this really massive problem … we’re going to change millions of people’s lives. It’s that simple,” he says on the product’s website.

They’re not yet in the Australia online store but the company plans to roll the product out globally this year.

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