Health x Wellness
Sleep Fitness? The AI Bed Cover Used by F1 Drivers Just Landed in Singapore
If you are tracking your macros, counting your steps, and optimising your work-life balance but still waking up groggy, you are not alone.
For many Gen X and Millennials, “hustle culture” has gradually been replaced by a quest for longevity and biohacking. Yet, sleep remains the elusive missing piece.
Eight Sleep, the company that coined the term “sleep fitness,” has officially launched in Singapore, marking its first foray into the Asian market. The brand is best known for “The Pod”—an AI-powered mattress cover that has found a cult following among Silicon Valley tech moguls like Elon Musk and elite athletes, including F1 driver Charles Leclerc and tennis star Taylor Fritz.
The Singapore Sleep Deficit
The arrival of high-tech sleep aid feels timely for a nation that is chronically tired. Recent data indicates that one in three Singaporeans struggles with sleep disturbances—a rate higher than the global benchmark. Furthermore, adults here average just 6.5 hours of rest on weekdays, falling short of recommended guidelines.
It isn’t just about the duration of sleep, but the quality. Over 27 percent of residents report poor sleep quality, plagued by fragmentation and waking up throughout the night. In a tropical climate like Singapore’s, temperature regulation is often a major disruptor of deep rest.
Not a Mattress, But a “Smart Cover”
Eight Sleep differentiates itself by not selling you a new mattress, but rather upgrading the one you already own. The Pod is a sensor-embedded layer that fits over any mattress, essentially turning a standard bed into a health and recovery platform.
The core technology addresses one of the most overlooked aspects of sleep: temperature. The Pod’s “Autopilot AI” adjusts the temperature on each side of the bed in real-time, cooling or heating based on the individual’s biometric needs. This means if you run hot and your partner runs cold, the bed adapts automatically to keep both of you in deep sleep longer.
Beyond temperature, the cover tracks vital biometrics such as heart rate, respiratory rate, and sleep stages without the need for wearable trackers—appealing to those who find sleeping with a smartwatch cumbersome.
The Science of “Sleep Fitness”
The company positions sleep not as a passive break from the day, but as an active recovery process essential for performance.
Matteo Franceschetti, CEO and Co-Founder of Eight Sleep, explains the philosophy: “Sleep is the foundation of health and longevity. Our goal is to bring clinical-grade recovery into the bedroom and help more people wake up feeling restored and energised”.
The claims are backed by a peer-reviewed study involving 54 participants monitored over 300 nights. The results showed that sleeping on The Pod led to measurable physiological improvements:
- Enhanced Deep Sleep: Men saw an increase in deep and light sleep by up to 22 percent during the first half of the night.
- Better REM Cycles: Women experienced up to a 25 percent increase in REM sleep over the same period.
- Cardiovascular Recovery: Participants saw an average 2 percent decrease in resting heart rate and a 7 percent increase in heart rate variability (HRV), markers often associated with improved cardiovascular health.
A Tech-First Approach to Wellness
For the data-obsessed demographic, the accompanying app offers health monitoring and “Health Check” diagnostics, providing insights similar to what one might expect from a personal trainer, but for rest.
By launching in Singapore, Eight Sleep is tapping into a sophisticated market that increasingly views recovery as the new frontier of health. With widely recognised health experts like Andrew Huberman and Peter Attia backing the technology, the brand is betting that Singaporeans are ready to invest in their nights to conquer their days.
Pictures credit to Eight Sleep.
