Smart Matress.docx

This is my Project Explanation a) Briefly describe the background of the chosen company, organization or industry;  mattress/furniture The mattress industry has been relatively unchanged for many years. Only recently has innovation occurred in the industry, with technology and other blossoming industries being used to aid the mattress industry. For many years the mattress industry had no reason to attempt to innovate, people were perfectly content with their current technology. The technology industry also had not developed enough in order to help the mattress industry innovate at that point in time. Only recently has technology developed to a point where it can help the mattress industry add new features to their product. In addition, the mattress industry is expanding, growing an average of 6.1% per year from 2011-2016 and the same level of growth is anticipated for the future. b) Define the business problem you are going to solve; Getting quality sleep is an essential part in living a healthy life. Many people in the United States and around the world do not get enough sleep. Therefore, the smart mattress will help enhance their quality of sleep. With the smart mattress, users will be able to achieve a higher quality of sleep through climate control. Moreover, the smart mattress tracks and monitors the users’ quality of sleep and could also reveal how many hours the users slept. c) Explain how important the problem is; Sleep is a vital human function for maintaining health and well-being. Everyone needs it however approximately 35% of adults in the United States do not get the appropriate amount of sleep. When people don’t get enough sleep their physical and mental health suffer. Sleep deprivation is linked to an increased risk in a number of diseases some examples being heart and kidney disease, diabetes, obesity, and high blood pressure. During sleep humans physically rebuild and repair muscles and organs, and balance hormones in the body. Also, the immune system is also affected by sleep. If someone isn’t getting enough sleep it may be difficult for their immune system to battle common illnesses. Getting the right amount of sleep improves learning and focusing abilities, balancing emotions and moods, creativity, and problem-solving skills. Whereas a lack of sleep has been linked to mental health diseases such as depression. If people sleep for the appropriate amount of time they are likely to do better at work or school, complete tasks in shorter amounts of time, and maintain healthier relationships than they would if they are not getting enough sleep. There is also a safety risk involved in sleep deprivation. If people are missing significant amounts of sleep it is likely that their body will try to make up for it by microsleeping. Microsleeping often occurs when people are behind the wheel of a vehicle, this puts that person and others around them at greater risk of a car collision. Sleep is clearly very important and if we can create a solution that reduces the number of adults who are sleep deprived it may also have an effect on other diseases physical and mental that can be linked to lack of sleep. Overall, it is important to set humans up to lead happy and healthy lives, solving the sleep deprivation problem is a great start. d) (Optional) Propose one potential IT solution. The creation of a smart internet linked mattress that has a downloadable app with comfort convenience functions. Specifically, functions such as pre-heating or cooling from the touch of a button anywhere in the world.

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These are the Instructions There are 3 solutions that we chose from:

1) Solution 1: An application for a mobile device that takes in user inputed data about the tasks that they need to complete in the next day or week and creates a plan for the user on how they should stay on track to complete all of the tasks in the given amount of time. The user will input each task, the amount of time it takes and when it needs to be done by. The user also will provide information to allow the app to determine how much sleep is necessary for the individual so that it can be sure the tasks don’t compromise sleep time. The app will also send notification to the user to keep them on track. Rough Cost: The costs of this solution come from the initial price of building of the application and the cost of maintaining and updating the app. The rough cost of this solution is pretty low comparatively.

How can it help sleep deprivation? Many humans suffer from poor time management skills and often times are unable to complete their tasks for the day. This can lead to stress which can in turn lead to having problems with sleeping. It can also cause people to stay up late or wake up early to finish their tasks so they will not get enough sleep to provide energy for their days. If time and time again people are sacrificing sleep to get work done they will become sleep deprived.

Pros: The largests benefit to this solution is that while tackling the problem of sleep deprivation it also can be very useful to users who struggle with time management. It gives two incentives to users to want to use this product. Another pro is that the cost is lower and it won’t take a huge team of people to upkeep the application.

Cons: The biggest downfall of application is that it relies heavily on a user following the schedule. Users could easily have there schedule made and then not follow it and then the solution will be obsolete. Another con is that life can be unpredictable and users may not know exactly how long each task will take them.

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This is the one we chose: Solution 2

Solution 2: A smart internet linked mattress that has a downloadable application with comfort convenience functions. Functionality would include tracking sleep and heart rate, automatic pressure point adjustment as the user shifts during the night, heating and cooling features based on both preference and temperature, and an alarm to wake you up in the morning. All settings and preference can be adjusted on the user friendly app. Rough Cost: The cost of creating a smart mattress would be high. The price of production, shipping, and storage is a large expense because the product is so large. There is also a need for a large workforce. Employees would be needed on both the physical mattress side and the software side for the application.

How can it help sleep deprivation? The smart mattress will help with sleep deprivation because it will adjust throughout the course of sleep to assure that the user gets the best more comfortable sleep as possible. The sleep tracking will also display to users their sleeping patterns and can encourage improvements.

Pros: Unlike other products the smart mattress provides an in depth full body measurement of the users sleep

Cons: One major con is that mattresses are expensive. The user would be investing a lot of money

patterns. It also adjusts its shape during the night to make sure that the users isn’t in a position that will give them soreness and even worse chronic pain. The application is easy to use and allows user to connect with their device from anywhere. The mattress could also be used in healthcare facilities to give doctors and nurses more information about the patient.

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upfront which could deter people from choosing this product when mattress shopping. Another con the product is very large so we would need large spaces to hold them which is just an added expense.

Solution 3

Solution 3: A smart pillow that is connected to a user friendly application that uses user preference to assure the best sleep possible. The pillow will include heating and cooling features, a gentle alarm to wake up the user, and sleep tracking capabilities. Rough Cost: The expected cost of this solution is medium to high. The smaller product would save money on storage and shipping costs. However, there still needs to be teams in charge of producing the physical pillow as well as creating, maintaining, and updating the application.

How can it help sleep deprivation? The smart pillow will allow users to track their sleeping patterns in a reliable and simple way. The temperature controlling features will make sure that the user is in the most optimal position for a good night's rest.

Pros: The smart pillow is a smaller and less expensive way for the consumer to use technology to aid their sleeping. It would be more accessible and wouldn’t cost as much to store in a warehouse. The application will be easy for the consumer to use to track their sleeping patterns and set preferences.

Cons: One con to the smart pillow is finding an appropriate power source. It would be inconvenient to have to plug in a pillow and a battery pack might be uncomfortable for the user. Assuring that the pillow is comfortable to sleep on could be challenging because people have different preferences.

I have to write:  You must justify why your solution (Solution 2) is superior to the already existing solutions (smart mattresses) in the market (research also if there are any in the market and include them) (i.e. efficiency, cost, ease, etc.). Use facts, statistics, reports, and research to support your conclusion.  I need it by 8:00am EST