Partners across the country are losing sleep due to the disruptive sounds of teeth grinding, snoring, gasping, jaw clenching, and choking, whether it be from noisy mouth breathers, habitual snorers, or individuals with more severe sleep disorders like sleep apnoea.
During Sleep Awareness Week, I had the opportunity to visit a laboratory at a University of Cambridge science campus where a group of engineering PHD students, along with their professor, have been diligently working on a groundbreaking invention utilizing the innovative material graphene. This invention not only aims to address sleep issues but could potentially have a positive impact on marital relationships as well.
Luigi G. Occhipinti, the director of research in the engineering department, together with his talented team of 25-year-old students Chenyu Tang, Zibo Zhang, and Wentian Yi, have successfully created the world’s first AI-driven smart garment technology designed for monitoring speech and breath patterns – or what they humorously refer to as AI jim jams for those not well-versed in engineering jargon.
Many of us have experimented with snoring apps to track our own nighttime noises or those of our sleeping companions. I personally tested one and was shocked to discover instances of loud snoring during the night.
While reviewing the recordings, I realized that the culprits were not just me with my gentle snores but also my pug Bozza, who contributed his fair share of noisy snorts. I’m sticking to my story on that one.
Although the AI pyjamas developed by the Cambridge engineers cannot eliminate snoring partners, they can accurately identify sleeping patterns, detect breathing methods (nasal or oral), monitor snoring, bruxism, and importantly, identify serious sleep disorders like sleep apnoea and obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA).
Renowned Radio 2 DJ Zoe Ball has openly discussed the jaw pain and headaches resulting from her bruxism, a condition caused by teeth clenching during sleep. I can relate to her struggles, but I anticipate relief only once my teenager moves out of the house.
The team unveiled their pioneering prototype at the Cambridge Graphene Centre located just outside the city center, a cutting-edge facility where experts explore various applications of this durable and flexible futuristic material, ranging from spacecraft protection to everyday items like touch screens.
Derived from graphite and composed of pure carbon, graphene consists of a single layer of incredibly strong, flexible, and conductive atoms. It is this exceptional conductivity that plays a pivotal role in Professor Luigi’s work, a discovery that emerged serendipitously during a different project.
“Originally, our aim was to develop a smart choker device – a single sensor placed in the throat area – for individuals who had lost their ability to speak,” explained Luigi, aged 56.
“While investigating graphene’s properties under strain in a flexible fabric, we observed that the device generated ‘micro-cracks’ in the textile when stretched,” he elaborated. “These cracks, fully reversible in nature, are responsible for the resistance change in the graphene-textile