Sleepstellar: A Safety Kit and Digital Storyteller for Sleepwalkers

Abstract

Sleepwalking affects 2-4% of adults and can be a potentially dangerous condition leading to severe safety incidents. We interviewed sleepwalkers and sleep disorder experts; and investigated sleepwalking forums to understand their needs and characteristics. Research shows that sleepwalkers not only face safety issues, but also social embarrassment leading to conflicts in their self-image and self-awareness. We present Sleepstellar that includes a safety kit to protect sleepwalkers and a platform to encourage digital storytelling for overcoming embarrassment issues. The safety kit provides customized RFID stickers to stick to the potentially harmful places (like staircases, kitchen stove) and connecting it with a sleep tracking wearable that alarms when the patient is close to an RFID sticker. The accompanying mobile app tracks sleepwalking pattern and creates stellar-like beautiful visualizations to be viewed by sleepwalkers and share anonymously with the public along with their individual stories to encourage public engagement, thus enhancing a sleepwalker's self-image and overcome embarrassment issues.