Mattress Topper developed exclusively for the Apple Watch®.
MÜNSTER, Germany, Jan. 3, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Freezing, shivering, sweating – everyone’s nighttime perception of warmth is different. The German Start-up Variowell Development asked 3.300 consumers in 5 countries globally. Over 50% answered that they or their partner often feel too hot often at night – male and female consumers alike. Interesting fact: Over 30% react by sticking a foot outside of the bed. But most consumers are just increasing the air conditioning –not great for the environment. One thing is certain: body temperature, Heart rate and blood flow change regularly during the night. It is therefore not uncommon to sweat during sleep and at the same time feel cold at the feet. The topper from the German company Variowell Development GmbH is ideal to deal with this common topic. “With Pepaminto for the first time it has been possible to easily implement different thermal settings in a bed during the night by adapting the heat dissipation within the foam,” explains Variowell CEO Tobias Kirchhoff.
The idea behind the technology, which has just been won the CES® 2023 Innovation Award in the category digital health, is a combination of thin warming-strips and naturally cooling bands of graphite. The cooling properties were tested in the company’s own sleep lab and independently verified by the renowned Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology – Empa for short. Together with the warming-strips the heat dissipation and therefore temperature in the feet and lumbar section can be changed subtly also during the night. To improve the sleep experience Variowell is using the capabilities of the Apple Watch. “Test users were surprised how easy to use the topper can be adapted to the thermal reception of the user,” Tobias continues. All settings are changed using the Digital Crown of the Apple Watch®. The Topper automatically detects when a person is sleeping. The Topper is connected to a standard USB-C charger as it requires only low-voltage power.
The Sensors of the Apple Watch were integrated as well. “Our constantly changing body temperature affects our perception of warmth during sleep, and thus the quality of our sleep experience,” the CEO continued. Pepaminto analyses this via the heart rate and adjusts the temperature accordingly. The different body zones – such as foot and lumbar areas – are automatically taken into account. And besides these impressing functionalities important data of the sleeping-room air quality are measured and the user is informed of any unusual value changes. Therefore, the Pepaminto is a great combination of “Smart Home” and “Smart Health”. To realize this product Variowell Development teamed up with Bosch Global Software Technologies which were convinced by the state-of-the-art product concept of Pepaminto.
The topper “made in Germany” will be presented at the influential technology event CES® in Las Vegas, USA, from January 5 to 8. In the section Digital Health, Pepaminto has just won the prestigious CES Innovation Award, presented by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA)®. This annual competition recognizes outstanding design and engineering in 28 consumer technology product categories. The products submitted are judged by a distinguished panel of industry experts, including media representatives, designers, engineers and others, based on innovation, technology and functionality, as well as aesthetics and design. Following the launch at CES®, Pepaminto will initially be introduced in two test markets, the UK and Switzerland. The launch in further markets will follow in 2023.
Website for the product: www.pepaminto.com
Note for journalists:
Variowell Development GmbH will present Pepaminto at a press conference on January 5th, 2023 from 12:00n to 12:30p PST in the Venetian Lido 3105, with support from the sleep scientist Roy Rayman (Sleepczar) and Digent Shah (Vice President Software and Digital Solutions from BOSCH Global Software Technologies). The team will be available for interviews and questions afterwards.
About Variowell Development GmbH
The German company Variowell develops and markets intelligent technologies for the mattress industry. Renowned mattress manufacturers in the USA, Asia and Europe work together with Variowell. Tobias Kirchhoff, founder and CEO of Variowell Development is a member or co-chair of several sleeptech groups in the U.S. and Asia.
Variowell owns the Kikoo technology for natural cooling (www.kikoo.com) and the Swayy technology for perfect thermal comfort during sleep (www.swayy.tech).