Ensuring ‘Good Sleep’ Throughout the Night: The Collaboration of Samsung’s Air Conditioners and Wearables

Samsung’s air conditioners feature the ‘Good Sleep’ mode, helping people have pleasant sleep throughout the night by adjusting the temperature according to sleep stages. This mode has now been upgraded to allow users to connect their air conditioners with their Galaxy Watch series and Galaxy Ring, and have the ‘Good Sleep’ automatically activated when they fall asleep.[1]

 The Effect of Temperature on Good Sleep

While often overlooked, the influence of a suitable ambient temperature on sleep is immense. The common experience of waking up in the middle of the night drenched in sweat or shivering in cold, is relatable for most people. This year, as a result of global warming, various regions across the globe experience unusual temperature patterns, with nights growing even warmer relative to days. As a result, numerous individuals struggled to get quality sleep, adversely impacting their daily routines and overall mood.

The difficulty and frustration people go through when having trouble sleeping are also reflected in air conditioner sales. Samsung’s air conditioner sales results in Korea showed that sales increased on hot days, but among those hot days, it especially peaked when tropical nights had persisted for consecutive days. People were highly agitated when their sleep was disturbed by heat, indicating a need for more suitable sleeping temperatures. Based upon the observation, Samsung decided to develop a mode on its air conditioners to help people get better sleep during the night.

The key point in this mode however, was that the optimal temperature for sleep is not fixed for the entire period that a person sleeps. This is why although many set their air conditioner to the ‘optimal’ temperature before going to bed, they still wake up. It varies according to the sleep stage a person is at – whether a person is falling asleep, in deep sleep, or waking from sleep. The team, in 2015, partnered with Kyunghee University to find the optimal temperature for each sleep stage, and develop an adequate algorithm for the air conditioner.

How it Functions

The ‘Good Sleep’ mode fluctuates the indoor temperature over a course of a person’s sleep cycle. Sleep consists of 5 stages – wake, REM (Rapid eye movement), and 3 stages of NREM (Non-rapid eye movement sleep). Each stage of sleep includes variations in brain wave patterns, eye movements, and body temperature. These five stages make up one complete sleep cycle which typically lasts about 90 minutes. Throughout the night, this cycle repeats itself approximately four to six times.

The ‘Good Sleep’ cycle adjusts the indoor temperature according to the stage. First, when a person falls asleep, temperature is quickly lowered within 5 minutes to immediately create a pleasant environment. The temperature is kept low consistently during the next 90 minutes to facilitate deeper sleep. Starting from 90 minutes, the air conditioner increases the temperature to prepare for the deeper stages of sleep – N2 and N3. In these stages, body temperature and blood pressure fall the most, indicating that outer temperature needs to be warmer. Temperature is increased within two degrees above target level to prevent awakening due to cold sensation.

Throughout the eight-hour sleep cycle, alternating periods of lighter REM sleep and deeper NREM sleep occur. The ‘Good Sleep’ mode continually modifies the temperature throughout the night, adjusting it approximately three times. Approaching the end of sleep, temperature is kept high, but gentle wind is blown to create a refreshing atmosphere.

Algorithm for Good Sleep Mode, under condition of Target temperature 24 °

In WindFree™ air conditioners, the Good Sleep mode works with WindFree™ cold air, and for normal models, air is blown out to meet the target temperature.

Automation with Galaxy Wearables

By connecting with the Galaxy Watch series or Galaxy Ring[2], users can seamlessly enjoy the benefits of the Good Sleep mode without manual adjustments via remotes. Upon purchasing either device, users can enable automatic activation and deactivation of the air conditioner through settings. Once configured, whenever the wearable detects that the user has begun sleeping, it initiates the Good Sleep mode accordingly. If the air conditioner was previously turned off, it will be switched on with the appropriate target temperature for Good Sleep. Alternatively, if it is already running but set too cold, it will adapt to a more comfortable sleeping temperature.

Samsung first attempted this connection back in 2018, before wearables had developed into a steady market like now. Members of the product planning team and software team pioneered collaboration of wearables and home appliances. However, it was only in 2023 when this service properly took place as a feature. By then, the wearable market itself had grown, and it had matured enough so that users even wore the devices to bed. Kyungju Lee, who took part in the project 6 years ago and now leads product planning for Room Air Conditioners, says, “We could see just by looking at friends and family around us, that the interest people had in the quality of their sleep had increased immensely. We felt that we needed to re-launch the feature we’d attempted in 2018. The right timing had come.”

[1] Available for Room Air Conditioners – AR**B******, AR**C******, AR**D****** with Wi-Fi. Requires mobile phones above Galaxy S22, and wearable devices above Galaxy Watch4 series or Galaxy Ring.

Must download SmartThings/Wearable/Samsung Health apps available on Android and iOS devices. A Wi-Fi connection and a Samsung account are required. Devices must be signed in with the same Samsung account.

[2] Possible through models above Galaxy Watch4 series and Galaxy Ring