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.Ready to learn more about your sleep?
(Image credit: Future)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 worksThe 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.Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips.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.
