Bear-shaped pillow turns 'nasty' when you snore

This bear-shaped pillow may appear nice and soft, but may turn "nasty" if you start snoring: it will strike your face with its paw. But the bear's action has a good reason: it is actually helping you sleep by urging you to move to your side - a position in which you are less likely to snore. Dubbed "Jukusui-kun" (Deep Sleep), the bear is a robotic pillow and aims to help more than two million people suffering from sleep apnea syndrome in Japan, Japan Trends reported. Sleep apnea syndrome refers to breathing difficulties while sleeping. The bear has a "cute" pulse-oxygen meter attached to the hand, which sends readings of the amount of oxygen in the blood to a terminal running a program with the persons vital statistics pre-programmed in. On the other hand, the development team developed a cordless technology to keep the wires from preventing a good sleep. The pillow itself also houses a microphone which analyses the decibel level of the snorer. "When the oxygen level decreases in the patient resulting in the snore level increasing it triggers the bear-pillow’s hand to move towards the sleepers face. Gently brushing the face causes the person to then turn from lying on their back to moving onto their side, a more conducive postion for a sound, snoreless nights sleep," Japan Trends said. The robot created by Wasaeda Univeristy was featured at the International Robot Exhibition in Tokyo last week. A separate article on Mashable, however, said it remains to be seen if "getting pawed by a bear actually inspire snorers to shift to a quieter sleeping position." "Or will Jukusui-kun be little more than an annoying stuffed animal that swats at their ears?" it said. — TJD, GMA News