Special Edition: Why Does Accuracy Matter?
The SleepScore team is constantly working to bring the SleepScore App experience to users around the world, allowing more people to not only learn about their sleep, but get personalized advice and recommendations. We’re committed to getting everyone better sleep, so we can be our best selves. To achieve this, we spend countless hours making sure you can go to sleep and wake up with the most accurate picture of your sleep, testing our app on all kinds of smartphone makes and models.
In keeping with our world-class accuracy standards, we take great care in testing phone models before opening them up to SleepScore. And because every smartphone’s speaker and microphone capabilities vary, our testing method takes some time. Our 8-week process meticulously tests our app’s patented tracking abilities to measure its accuracy and optimize its performance on each phone model.
We sat down with the Software and Algorithms Manager on the SleepScore ResMed sensor technology team, Niall Fox, to get you all the answers you might be looking for!
Q: How long does testing take?
A: Typically, one phone takes about eight weeks of total testing. We test in batches of 10 phones at a time to try and get as many new models out to consumers as we can. Our testing process takes a full eight weeks to get results from all of our unique testers and allows for time to adjust any software settings per phone for the highest level of accuracy.
Q: What kinds of things are you looking for during testing?
A: First we start by measuring what kind of acoustic energy each phone model sends out. This is critical to the success of our sonar technology. We then test that the phone can pick up body movements and respiration of someone in a variety of ranges and positions. We want to test as much ‘natural movement’ as we can with the technology to make sure the phone can capture real human activity and sleep behavior, like rolling around, frequent awakenings, and things like that.
Once we’ve established that the phone’s capabilities can capture movement and respiration effectively using our technology, we then put each phone through a barrage of test scenarios that a normal user at home would typically go through. This includes things like testing with a partner in bed, testing with different bedroom dimensions and flooring (hardwood versus carpet), and even testing with pets in bed!
If we see any abnormalities, we deep dive further to make adjustments as needed, and in some cases, choose to exclude a particular phone model if we’re not seeing the results we want.
Q: What kind of real-world testing do you do?
A: We send each phone model home with dozens of unique testers, each with different bedroom set-ups and nighttime sleeping patterns. No two bedrooms or sleepers are alike, so it’s important to test a variety of environments for all possible issues. This complex testing is a critical step in optimizing the App experience for our users.
Q: Why would a phone be rejected?
A: Sometimes, a particular smartphone’s speakers don’t give out the right level of acoustic energy needed to run our sonar technology. We’re committed to providing users with the most accurate sleep technology available on a smartphone, and unfortunately, this can translate to our team having to reject a phone model.
We won’t sign off on a phone model unless it passes our stringent array of tests, ensuring it’s at the highest level of accuracy in real-world scenarios. If you can’t measure your sleep, you can’t manage it, and we will never compromise on the accuracy of our App.
We’re always working to add more phones to our list of approved devices so the world can start sleeping better. And when we all start sleeping better, we have the opportunity to be our best selves.
Have more questions about SleepScore technology powered by ResMed or which phones are currently available? Learn more here.