Ever experienced the sleep tracker miss-match? It's when your data suggests a good night's rest but your body feels like it's hardly slept a wink. DUSQ, a sleep intervention device now live on Kickstarter, wants to bridge the gap between the two.
Our team has rounded up the best sleep trackers you can buy, based on our hands-on testing and expert knowledge.
Described as the "first wearable that reads your nervous system directly", the DUSQ detects even the tiniest changes in electrical activity to identify when your sleep is under threat from the micro-disruptions that ruin your sleep quality.
But enough about sleep tracking. The real focus of the DUSQ system isn't monitoring your sleep, it's improving it. Using non-invasive stimulation, the DUSQ activates your vagus and vestibular nerves to push you back into deep sleep.
In the morning, your sleep tracker should show a night of uninterrupted snooze. More importantly, you should feel every inch as refreshed as your sleep score indicates.
DUSQ: How it works
The DUSQ is a two part system: a patch that sticks to the skin beneath your ear and the connected DUSQ Device, which reads information relayed by the patch. In the hours before bed (yes, before bed, we'll dive into that below), you apply the patch and set up the device in your room.
Inside the DUSQ patch is a series of patented EDA (electrodermal activity) sensors. These essentially monitor your skin's electrical properties and through this can detect minor changes in your nervous system.
These tiny adjustments signal sleep disruptions, from 3 a.m. wake-ups to the micro disturbances you don't even realize are happening but can leave you exhausted in the morning.
This is where things step up a level. When the DUSQ notes a wake-up, it doesn't just add it to your tracking data — it sends you back to sleep.
DUSQ does this by delivering "non-invasive" stimulation to the vestibular and vagus nerve, helping calm your nervous system and push you into deeper sleep.
Think of it like being rocked back to sleep. And we mean that literally; it's the vestibular nerve that's stimulated when you rock a fussy baby.
'I sleep much faster and way deeper'
At Tom's Guide, we emphasize that good sleep starts hours before you go to bed, which is why you should put down that 3 p.m. coffee. DUSQ is on the same page, with sleep enhancing tech that starts before you're actually asleep.
So how does it work? By applying your DUSQ patch in the hours before bed, the sensors can start calming your nervous system, priming you to drop off when you climb beneath the covers.
And like all the best sleep tech, the DUSQ also tracks your sleep cycle on the connected app.
The device has been tested in DUSQ's Sleep Lab using polysomnography (the gold-standard in sleep tracking) and early customer feedback is positive: "I sleep much faster and way deeper" says one user, while another claims their life has "changed in ways like it was never before."
DUSQ: Price and availability
The DUSQ is now live and available on Kickstarter, with prices starting at $339 and VIP orders set to arrive in August (other devices are set for delivery in October.)
Each order includes the DUSQ patch, tracking device, charging case and cable, plus replacement patches. The price is set to rise at launch, with the retail MSRP estimated at $499.
Each DUSQ patch comes with seven adhesive layers, which are peeled and replaced each night, for a week's worth of use. Orders include a three month supply of patches, with additional three month packs priced at $25.
This is a price comparable to other sleep trackers that claim to improve your sleep, including the Muse S Athena ($479.99 MSRP at Muse) and the Pulsetto (MSRP $546 at Pulsetto.)
Wake up fresher and avoid late-night disruptions
DUSQ compares itself to your heating system. You probably don't sit by the thermostat making minor adjustments to keep the house just the right temperature (unless you're that type of dad.)
Instead, you let the thermostat read the air and make changes as necessary. The result? You stay the comfortable without having to lift a finger.
While traditional sleep trackers give us insight into our sleep, it's down to the user to take the information and do something with it.
But the DUSQ actively intervenes while you snooze the night away, helping cut out those brief wake ups that can destroy sleep quality without you even realizing.
And the results so far show an average of 28 minutes restorative sleep improvement per night — one user claims it makes their eight hours sleep feel like 10. That's like an extra long lie-in and all you need to do is spend a few seconds sticking a patch to your neck.
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