Apparatuses (including devices, kits, and systems) and methods to non-invasively and chemically (rather than thermally) activate thermoreceptors to modulate sleep. For example, described herein are apparatuses including topical compositions that stimulate thermoreceptors on the subject's skin (e.g., forehead, hands, and/or feet) for a period of time to induce a sensation of temperature (heat or cold) without significantly altering the person's actual skin temperature to improve sleep quality, including reducing sleep-onset latency, enhancing depth of sleep, and/or extending the amount of time a subject sleeps. The subject may be suffering from insomnia or some other sleep disorder.

The present disclosure provides personal multimedia pods that convert from an enclosable premium theater system with seating for one or more users to an unenclosed chair and/or to an output audio/video device capable of connecting (e.g., wirelessly connecting) to other audio/visual equipment.

A child soothing device includes a soothing structure includes an outer layer and an inner layer, and one or more artificial muscles disposed between the inner layer and the outer layer of the soothing structure and communicatively coupled to a controller. Each of the one or more artificial muscles includes a housing comprising an electrode region and an expandable fluid region and a dielectric fluid housed within the housing. Each of the one or more artificial muscles also includes an electrode pair positioned in the electrode region of the housing, the electrode pair including a first electrode and a second electrode. The electrode pair is actuatable between a non-actuated state and an actuated state such that actuation from the non-actuated state to the actuated state directs the dielectric fluid into the expandable fluid region, expanding the expandable fluid region, thereby applying pressure to the inner layer of the soothing structure.

A load control system may control an electrical load in a space of a building based on one or more parameters regarding the physical condition of an occupant. The parameters may be gathered by one or more sensing devices. The sensing devices may be included in a mobile device. A system controller may receive the parameters and may automatically control the electrical loads in response to the parameters. The system controller may control the electrical load to attempt to adjust the physical condition of the occupant in response to the sensed parameters. The system controller may control the electrical load to provide an alert, an alarm, and/or a warning in response to the sensed parameters.

A method and apparatus to improve sleep aid efficacy are provided. The method comprises monitoring the sleeping patterns of a user utilizing a non-intrusive sleep monitoring device. The method further correlates the user's sleep quality and sleep quantity with use of the sleep aid. In one embodiment, the method adjusts the sleep aid based on the sleep statistics. The efficacy of sleep aids is increased by monitoring user's sleep patterns continuously.

The present disclosure provides a system for processing biological signals. The system may comprise a sensing module comprising one or more sensors for detecting at least one of a biological parameter of a subject and one or more biological signals of the subject, and an additional sensor for detecting ambient conditions associated with a surrounding environment of the subject. The system may comprise a signal processing module in communication with the sensing module, wherein the processing module is configured to aggregate and process data obtained using the one or more sensors to compute one or more markers for the subject. The system may comprise an output device optimization module in communication with the signal processing module and one or more output devices, wherein the output device optimization module is configured to control the output devices using the one or more computed markers and data obtained using the additional sensor.

An interactive therapeutic blanket system is disclosed. The interactive therapeutic blanket system provides a set of selectable features that serve to address mental health therapeutic user needs. In one embodiment, a user selects a selectable blanket configuration using a system interface and a blanket system controller controls a set of active blanket devices to the selectable blanket configuration. In one feature, the set of active blanket devices include a set of vibration devices operating according to a temporally-referenced vibration regimen. In another feature, the set of active blanket devices include a set of pressure devices to impart discrete pressure to a user at discrete body locations.

A training and simulation assembly for the learning of deliberate control of a specified body part by a test subject contains an electrode cap, which has a number of electrodes, and an evaluation unit, which is configured to measure voltages present at the electrodes and to provide measurement results as EEG measurement data. The evaluation unit analyzes the EEG measurement data for the presence of a mental act and to determine a correspondence value, which indicates the correspondence of the EEG measurement data with reference values defined by the mental act. A control unit and a simulation unit are provided. The simulation unit stimulates the body of the test subject at a specified point of the body and/or to trigger a motion. The control unit controls the stimulation unit and the ability to apply an indicating stimulus to the body part by the stimulation unit.

An environmental control system includes: a wind blower which blows wind toward a subject; and a control apparatus which switches between first control and second control at a predetermined timing. The first control makes a sympathetic nervous system of the subject dominant over a parasympathetic nervous system of the subject by changing a wind speed of the wind that is blown by the wind blower at a predetermined cycle, and the second control makes the parasympathetic nervous system of the subject dominant over the sympathetic nervous system of the subject by decreasing a wind speed of the wind that is blown by the wind blower to a wind speed lower than the wind speed in the first control.

The pain reducing anesthetic cooling device of the invention reduces pain and minimizes the anxiety often associated with needle injection procedures in both children and adults. The invention reduces pain by precisely anesthetizing a targeted area in a manner that prevents cooling excessive areas of the skin, targets the injection site with a temporary skin impression as a guide for needle injection placement, and makes it easy for medical staff, home care givers or the patient to use and store the device. Additional features of the invention include removable toys, spinning elements and sound and light features to distract and engage the patient. Additionally, the cooling solution may contain colorants such as dyes and particulate additives such as glitter to increase the visual appeal of the device.