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What if we could gamify how we sleep?
Have you ever stayed up late to watch a sports game? Pulled an all-nighter to study for a test? Woken up at 4 AM to catch a flight? Slept late after a crazy party? If your answer to any of these questions was yes, chances are that you have lost out on a full night’s sleep in the process.
All of these excursions are a natural and often regular part of our lives. Nevertheless, the sleep we lose for them is not without its repercussions. Sleep loss is responsible for fatigue, poor cognitive functioning, heart disease, depression, and other chronic diseases.
What if I told you that there was a way to objectively catch-up on the sleep you lost?
Not long ago, I worked for the flight operations department at an airline to design a Fatigue Risk Management System (FRMS). Due to the nature of their job, pilots are required to perform their duties at odd hours, when most of us would be sleeping. The effects of sleep loss are a serious threat to their wellbeing. The FRMS was designed to act as a safeguard against exactly these effects, to maintain flight safety. While brainstorming solutions back when it was still in development, I came across an…
