Auping wants to offer customers an “optimal sleeping experience”. They are thinking of offering a service model in which customers pay per month, and where a solution is offered if they no longer sleep well. Continuously responding and anticipating adequately to users by means of smart IoT devices and a smooth online experience must ensure that Auping can guarantee users a perfect night’s sleep soon.
The Case
The goal was to add smart technology to bed bases and thus improve sleep for customers. ‘We want to rest the world, we have been working on that for 130 years’, says category manager Jabe Faber.
To improve sleep, you must first provide insight into sleep. ‘With help of an app and a hardware device which is connected to the motors under the bed, we can, for example, measure whether someone is snoring, and operate the bed with a telephone or tablet. This device can also be connected to the internet and thus also to other smart devices in the house’, Faber explains. ‘You say “Google, time for romance” and your bed goes down, the lights emit red light, and the speakers play Barry White. But also, people with rheumatism who have trouble pressing buttons, or people who don’t feel like looking for the remote control are helped if they can operate the system with their voice.’
Flexible partner
Such smart applications are outside the bed manufacturer’s core business, which is why Auping opts for small iterative development steps while learning. ‘We were looking for a partner who can help us grow flexibly and bring the product to the next level. With Inspiro we have found a perfect partner for the realization of our smart applications. The biggest improvement is in the software under the hood. We also wanted to optimize the hardware, for example by providing the remote control with memory functions.‘
Improved connectivity
‘The Smart Base 2.0 makes it even easier to connect sensors to such systems and communicate with them. This improved connectivity is due to the application of cloud technology. The customer can securely store sleep data and monitor his or her sleep patterns and link them to bed actions’, says Faber. The renewed app for Apple and Android developed by Inspiro also improves the user experience: the app is faster, easier to install, and the chance of errors decreases.
