LG Electronics said on Monday that it signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for research cooperation with a sleep-tech diagnosis company, Asleep, at the LG Electronics Gasan R&D Campus on Friday.
Asleep is a sleep tech start-up that diagnoses sleep stages through breathing sounds during sleep and provides various sleep services based on artificial intelligence (AI) technology. This technology can measure the stage of sleep in any environment as long as you have a device with a microphone such as a smartphone, a smart TV, or a speaker.
Its advantage is that it can measure customers' sleep conditions without wearing a separate device, said a company official.
LG Electronics is planning to research and develop various products and services that combine Asleep's sleep diagnosis technology to operate in optimal mode and provide customized services according to customers' sleep conditions and patterns.
For example, if a customer is detected to be asleep, the bedroom's table-type air purifier is switched to sleep mode, and the air conditioner is set to the optimal temperature according to the recent sleep record. Additionally, if the laundry is finished and the customer is sleeping, the washing machine can operate the "laundry care after finish" function on its own.
At CES 2023 in Las Vegas next week, both companies will exhibit a smart bedroom environment demonstration consisting of sleep diagnosis technology together with LG Electronics' premium home appliances.
Asleep CEO Lee Dong-heon said, "We expect that combining Asleep’s technology with LG Electronics premium home appliances will create a human-centered residential environment from bedrooms to living rooms."
"We will introduce differentiated smart home appliances to improve customers' quality of life by applying simple and accurate sleep diagnosis technology," said LG Electronics H&A Research Center Director Oh Sai-kee.
Korea ranks the lowest in sleep time among OECD members.
According to statistics by the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS), about 670,000 Koreans sought treatment due to sleep disorder in 2021, a 35 percent increase from 495,506 in 2016.