Sleep Number, Protolabs receive nods for innovation at big CES trade show

Sleep Number has made another splash at CES, the big consumer product and technology trade show this week, by keeping cool.

Judges awarded Minneapolis-based Sleep Number a Best of Innovation award for its Climate360 smart bed. The Climate360 and the 360 smart bed also won innovation-honoree recognition.

Other Minnesota-based companies are also enjoying their time in a CES spotlight, with more than a dozen presenting during the Las Vegas show.

Another innovation award was given the Wayzn Slide, a gadget that allows pet owners to let their dogs out remotely, even if they aren't home. The 3-D-printed product was the winner last year of Maple Plain-based Protolabs' Cool Idea Award, which meant Wayzn received up to $250,000 in free manufacturing services so product prototypes could be perfected and manufactured.

The Wayzn door opener, which works with sliding-glass doors, lets a homeowner use a smartphone, Wi-Fi, sensors and cameras to track dog movement, slide open the door and then close it as soon as the dog passes through.

The Wayzn Slide award submission was "such a novel solution to a problem faced by pet owners everywhere," said Protolabs spokeswoman Sarah Ekenberg. "We're proud to have provided them with key manufacturing services, and that they went on to also be honored with CES' esteemed Innovation Award."

Sleep Number has been going to CES since 2014 and picked up the most awards since it introduced the 360 smart bed in 2017, when it won a number of CES awards and outside media recognition.

"With more than 700 million sleep sessions of data and research, our digital health platform is linking quality sleep to individualized wellness, and our 360 smart beds are delivering proven higher-quality sleep," said Sleep Number President and CEO Shelly Ibach, in a release.

Sleep Number research shows that 81% of people say that temperature during sleep is an issue, and there has been a technology race in the mattress industry around the issue. Serta released its iComfort mattress line years ago, and Tempur Sealy has introduced a new mattress using advanced materials design that it claims can make sleepers feel cooler.

Memory-foam mattresses are known to retain body heat, and some of those manufacturers are also altering their mattress design, materials or adding specialty bases to control temperature.

Sleep Number already has a foot-warming feature on some of its models. Their sleep data suggest that people can fall asleep faster when their toes are warm. And by adding more technology that modifies temperature through a sleep session, Sleep Number will add even more comfort control.

The new Climate360 technology cools the entire body to give optimal temperature control throughout the night. The mattress has two temperature zones so couples can control their own side of the bed and it can warm and cool following their natural sleep cycles.

"SNBR's Climate360 Bed enters a crowded field but could be appealing to high-end shoppers given its powered and adjustable heating and cooling capabilities that could be more effective than static materials. Nonetheless, we expect it to be a niche product for SNBR," said Seth Basham, an analyst who covers the mattress industry for Wedbush Securities.

The new 360 smart bed models will be in stores this year, and advancements in the SleepIQ mobile application will be rolled out to current 360 smart bed users. Those features include monthly wellness reports, sleep-circadian analytics and heart-rate variability measurements intended to help people monitor and manage stress.

Patrick Kennedy • 612-673-7926 Dee DePass • 612-673-7725