The world’s first sleep aiding headphones from Kokoon are now available to purchase

Ultra-comfortable, sensor enabled ANC headphones with app featuring sleep exercises and intelligent audio library improve sleep and relaxation.

Following an extremely successful Kickstarter campaign in 2015 with over 8,400 backers and $1.9 million raised, Kokoon is today pleased to announce that its sleep aiding headphones are now available to purchase from Kokoon.io for £349.99/$349. The headphones use the same technology currently being used in sleep labs to sense brainwaves combined with three layers of noise cancelling, including white noise, and an app that tracks sleep cycles.

‘Always-on’ technology is driving chronic problems with sleep. Now classified as “a public health epidemic” by the CDC (Centre for Disease Control), 1 in 3 people in the UK are affected by insomnia (NHS Choices) with 50% of Brits reporting struggles with sleep (Mintel). Each of us will, at some point in our lives, experience struggles with sleep, be it that long uncomfortable flight or struggling to switch off after a busy day.

Kokoon was founded with the mission to become the non-pharmaceutical, digital ‘go to’ for helping people relax and sleep easier. Kokoon’s founder Tim Antos struggled with insomnia himself. After attending many sessions at a sleep clinic he wanted a more convenient, cheaper way of getting access to the insights and techniques he was introduced to. “I wanted to make all this knowledge, all these great tools I learnt in the sleep clinic more accessible to the everyday consumer to use on their own terms”.

The Kokoon app features techniques, tracks and concepts developed with sleep professionals to optimise the chances of falling asleep. Many of these techniques feature in a form of talking therapy known as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, or CBT. CBT is an evidence-based therapy generally regarded as the gold standard treatment for insomnia with a proven success rate.

Kokoon uses these techniques to help users by delivering a customised content experience developed for the individual using the sensor data gathered from their body and environment. For example, as a wearer falls asleep in a headphone, audio changes in response, fading out the content and introducing white noise to mask out disturbances. The system also tracks what’s working for a user then personalising content for greater effect.

Kokoon’s first product, the Relax Headphone, features world first innovations in sensing and comfort. The Flexmould™ Comfort patented design helps Kokoon headphones mould to the shape of the users head to be comfortable wherever they are worn and thanks to the high quality natural fibre fabric, air flows easily through the ear cups to keep the wearers cool and comfortable. The ear cushions can also be detached and washed to be kept fresh and clean. Kokoon’s Sleepguard technology quietens as the wearer falls asleep whilst the EEG sensors measure the wearer’s brainwaves, motion, heart rate and environment tracking to learn what is helping them rest and relax.

Also useable as regular Bluetooth 4.0 headphones, the Kokoon Relax features premium acoustics from a 40mm electro dynamic driver and active noise cancelling making them ideal for listening to music or watching movies whilst travelling or simply relaxing. At just 350g/12.03oz they make the perfect travel companion with folding earcups and an included carry case.

The Kokoon Relax headphone is now shipping internationally from Kokoon.io for £349.00/$349.00. It can also be purchased from Selfridges and in-Motion UK.

About Kokoon

Kokoon was founded in 2013 when its founder, award-winning mechanical engineer Tim Antos begun struggling with sleep. Then working in the city he’d often be working long hours within stressful environments. He started finding it difficult to switch off at the end of each day; not being to get to sleep or get back to sleep. After buying and trying every consumer product he could get his hands on to no avail he turned to the health service. After enduring a 3 month wait, he managed to get onto a CBT-I programme at a sleep clinic; the gold standard treatment for insomnia. This was an 8-week program where he learnt about sleep, how to change bad habits and thought processes and techniques to help him relax and find sleep easier.

The program was very effective, and Tim discovered how useful these audio techniques were at helping his mind disconnect and unwind. He found he was able to fall asleep easily to guided audio relaxation techniques, however found his headphones were not fit for purpose and they’d regularly wake him back up. Tim realised that there was a need for a more accessible consumer friendly solution that better fitted within modern lifestyles and could be used irrespective of the frequency or severity of a person’s issue. With the advances in data, science and sensing technologies, Tim and fellow engineer and co-founder Richard came up with the concept behind Kokoon.