IKEA Home smart
Sound, light, and air. The quality of these three elements can make all the difference in getting a good night’s sleep. We caught up with IKEA product design developer Stjepan Begic to learn more about the IKEA Home smart range and how, by blending technology with home furnishing, we hope to make home life that much more restful.
Right from the very beginning, IKEA's approach has been deeply rooted in understanding people’s lives at home. What matters most to them? What common challenges do they have? Through conversations and studies, quality sleep was a priority that came up again and again. Sleep is a necessity that affects every part of our lives, yet it can often feel like a luxury. That's why customers want smart solutions that can improve their sleep spaces and support their unique sleep needs. With this our guiding star, we've been on a mission to create products that seamlessly blend technology with everyday living – and every-night slumbering!
Dust, pollen and chemicals. What a pesky gang they are – just floating around in the air, waiting to wreak havoc on our respiratory systems and overall health. When you consider that a person breathes up to 11,000 litres of air a day, it's likely that each of us is getting up close and personal with more pollutants than we care to.
While we can’t control the air quality wherever we go, we can improve things in our own homes. Especially the bedroom! “As people spend about a third of their lives sleeping, the bedroom is the perfect place to purify,” says Stjepan.
“Indoor air can be just as polluted as outdoor air,” says Stjepan. “Everyday activities like cooking and cleaning affect the quality of the air in our homes.” The VINDSTYRKA air quality sensor checks the air quality by monitoring harmful particles (PM2.5), temperature, relative humidity and total Volatile Organic Compounds (tVOC) in your home. It's the perfect partner for the STARKVIND air purifier, which in turn filters the air to remove pollutants.
Stjepan's top bedtime tip? "In the Home smart app, you can set your STARKVIND air purifier to start purifying ahead of your sleep schedule so that by the time you get into bed, particles and gases in your bedroom have been filtered out,” he says.
IKEA will also be launching an in-app update for VINDSTYRKA that allows users to track the status of their sleep environment over time, making it easier to optimise their bedroom air quality for better sleep.
If you have a small bedroom, the STARKVIND table with air purifier could be your dream multipurpose product! STARKVIND really comes into its own when connected to the IKEA Home smart app using the DIRIGERA hub. Adjust fan speed, check current air quality status, set status, set timers and create scenes with your other smart home products.
The sweet sound of almost-silence! STARKVIND air purifiers can run at a number of fan speeds – the lowest of which (24/24 dB) is quiet enough for a good night's sleep.
The VINDSTYRKA smart air quality sensor lets you keep track of your bedroom's air quality throughout the day, either on the screen or through the Home smart app. The simple design blends well into any bedroom: a dream come true for customers seeking easy, seamless solutions for higher quality sleep.
Sound has a direct effect on our nervous systems. It can calm us down, rev us up, and change our mood in a matter of beats. Sound solutions, such as the SYMFONISK range of WiFi speakers, integrate seamlessly into home furnishings, while offering soothing sounds to help users relax. Whether you're a fan of soft tunes, white noise or calming nature sounds, these speakers can help to mask disruptive noises and create a more peaceful, sleep-friendly atmosphere.
The smart connectivity of the speakers is where things really get interesting. Imagine you’re listening to a gripping podcast but can feel yourself drifting off to sleep. You’d like to pause the podcast or perhaps switch over to some white noise to mask the sounds from the street outside. “The last thing you feel like doing is opening your phone, staring at a bright screen, closing an app and opening another one,” says Stjepan. “With the SYMFONISK sound remote, you can skip all of this and get straight to whatever sound you’re after.”
Masking disruptive noise with soothing sounds is a simple way to create a calming sleep environment; just what you need in a room dedicated to sleep. An extra treat? Having a speaker that looks like a piece of art, adding beauty and saving space.
Small bedroom? No problem! The SYMFONISK WiFi bookshelf speaker can be placed horizontally or vertically or mounted onto the wall to use as a shelf of a super space-efficient bedside table, so you can enjoy high-quality sound without sacrificing precious floorspace.
Wake with the sun and fall asleep when it dips below the horizon. What a thought! While our natural circadian rhythm is just over 24 hours, changes in our routine or exposure to light can interrupt our ‘master clock’ and turn our steady natural rhythms into something closer to interpretive jazz.
Adaptive lighting within IKEA Home smart, like the TRÅDFRI series, is designed to mimic natural light cycles promoting healthier sleep patterns. Warm, dimmable lights help the body wind down in the evening, while gradually brightening morning lights create a gentle wake-up experience that supports the body’s natural circadian rhythm. “The Home smart app allows you to choreograph your lighting needs as they change through the day,” says Stjepan. “The light intensity and the colour temperature are programmable at the touch of a button!”
With the TRÅDFRI remote control, you can turn on, turn off, dim, and gradually change the colour temperature of the light from warm to cold. All of this can be done within the Home smart app too, simply by connecting your smart lighting to the DIRIGERA hub for smart products.
“While sound, air and light all impact the quality of one’s sleep, so does the amount of clutter in the bedroom,” says Stjepan. “If you can choose multipurpose products – like a speaker that is also a shelf or a lamp, or a table that also purifies your air – you'll be one step closer to a calmer, less crowded sleep environment.”
The IKEA Home smart range is our answer to the common sleep disruptions in modern living, from poor air quality and noise to lighting that affects circadian rhythms. Pay a visit your local IKEA below to start your journey towards a smarter night's sleep.
