In November 2020, the FDA approved an app from Nightware that claims to detect and stop nightmares using the Apple Watch®. The app senses a nightmare using the watch's accelerometer, gyroscope, and heart rate monitor, converting these metrics into stress levels and sleep stages. The watch then vibrates when a nightmare is detected to interrupt the dream without fully waking up the wearer. A patent for the technology was first filed in 2017, then issued in September 2020. The patent covers a method that can be applied on any smartwatch, which means that Apple doesn’t have any exclusive rights to the technology. But should they look into acquiring it?
The FDA approval specifically addresses treatment for adults who have "nightmare disorder" or PTSD nightmares. Currently, the app is only available by prescription. Nightware isn't the first app to tap into the watch's biometrics for sleep monitoring, especially given that Apple itself didn't offer any native sleep tracking until late 2020. Northcube patented its Sleep Cycle app technology back in 2013 for a method for waking up wearers at the right time in their REM cycle. Apple's own portfolio also covers adjusting alarms and other prompts based on detected sleep data. However, Nightware is the first company to deal directly with nightmare detection and intervention. Even Fitbit, which was acquired by Google last year and is a leader in consumer sleep technology, doesn’t deal in dream detection. Having missed out on that opportunity, Apple may want to consider acquiring app technologies that can be integrated seamlessly into its wearables. Nightware and Northcube are both contenders here, and you can view other sleep patents on the Magic Number® Consumer Sleep Patent Radian®.
