Today, at the Consumer Technology Association’s (CTA) Technology & Standards Forum in San Diego, CA, CTA and the National Sleep Foundation (NSF) announced a new standard for measuring sleep cycles with wearables and other applications. The new standard, CTA/NSF-2052.2, expands on last year’s work that defined terms and functionality required for devices that measure sleep behavior.

“NSF is proud to partner with CTA to bring consistency and reliability to consumers’ measurement of their own sleep,” said David Cloud, CEO, NSF. “Our work is helping ensure consumers can properly monitor and improve their sleep habits using sleep-tracking devices and technology. Understanding how much sleep we get, and the quality of that sleep, is critical to maintaining a healthy life.”

The new standard describes how tech devices measure various sleep stages and patterns. While some sleep characteristics can be measured directly, others must be inferred by using motion sensors and microphones to detect movement, snoring and other sleep behaviors. 

“Technology is changing the world for the better by helping consumers adopt and maintain healthier lives,” said Dave Wilson, vice president, technology & standards, CTA “Through our partnership with NSF, our members have worked to ensure that consumers can lead healthier lives with more accurate analysis of their sleep behaviors. This standard is a key component to having consistent, reliable technology consumers can use to help monitor and track their sleeping and waking patterns, and get a better, more consistent night’s sleep.”

Additional highlights from the Forum’s second day included discussion among leading experts to ensure accurate and consistent data for tech that monitors physical activity, a keynote on how multimedia standards are improving global markets and discussions on video and audio standards that would improve user experience. 

According to CTA's U.S. Consumer Technology Sales and Forecasts report, consumer interest in wearables – which includes health & fitness devices that monitor activities such as exercise and sleep – has soared and generated record-setting revenue levels. In 2017, the wearable market is expected to reach sales of 48 million units (a nine percent increase from 2016) and earn $5.6 billion. At CES 2018, the latest innovations helping consumers improve their sleep will be showcased in the Sleep Tech Marketplace. 

“Innovations in consumer tech are rapidly changing the healthcare ecosystem,” said Dr. Matthew Diamond, Chief Medical Officer, Nokia Technologies, and Vice Chair of CTA’s Health and Fitness Technology Division Board. “And the ongoing work of CTA’s Health, Fitness & Wellness Subcommittee helps manufacturers and consumers stay ahead of the curve. These standards, along with the launch of our mobile health working group, is a major step toward improving the user experience and their health.”

Tomorrow, CTA will announce winners of the Technology Leadership Award, which honors individuals for outstanding contributions to the consumer tech industry. CTA’s standards committees produce standards, guidelines and technical reports that help grow the consumer technology industry. All are welcome and encouraged to join any of these technology activities. For further information please visit standards.CTA.tech.