Yea, IMHO the Neuroon's a pretty neat project as well.
The Napwell's still a prototype, so we're not going to look as polished as IntelClinic's product. However, we think our simple mask has at least the following advantages over the NeuroOn:
1. It's comfortable. Our number 1 concern with the mask was how to make it something you can actually fall asleep in. We looked at the market and while other masks are wonderful technical solutions, we felt that were not conducive to sleep.
2. It works everywhere. You don't need wifi, bluetooth, or a smart phone to make it work. This makes it more optimal for travel use.
3. It wakes you with diffuse lighting. This might not be a significant issue for many, but for us when we were testing, we found that just having LED's in the mask makes it look like aliens are about to abduct you. Diffuse lighting gives the warm glow that's ideal for waking up gently.
4. Price. When looking at the market we were shocked that other masks retailed for over $150. Napping is an everyman activity and we hoped to have a price point where we wouldn't be considered a gadget but instead something that would be a valuable part of anyone's life.
The Neuroon promotional copy is a huge turn-off: it sells polyphasic sleep ("it's good enough for Da Vinci") and spends much more time talking about how awesome the Neuroon startup is than what the specific product does.
The Napwell's still a prototype, so we're not going to look as polished as IntelClinic's product. However, we think our simple mask has at least the following advantages over the NeuroOn:
1. It's comfortable. Our number 1 concern with the mask was how to make it something you can actually fall asleep in. We looked at the market and while other masks are wonderful technical solutions, we felt that were not conducive to sleep.
2. It works everywhere. You don't need wifi, bluetooth, or a smart phone to make it work. This makes it more optimal for travel use.
3. It wakes you with diffuse lighting. This might not be a significant issue for many, but for us when we were testing, we found that just having LED's in the mask makes it look like aliens are about to abduct you. Diffuse lighting gives the warm glow that's ideal for waking up gently.
4. Price. When looking at the market we were shocked that other masks retailed for over $150. Napping is an everyman activity and we hoped to have a price point where we wouldn't be considered a gadget but instead something that would be a valuable part of anyone's life.