The challenge: Find a way to help people sleep in uncomfortable (and perhaps uncompromising) positions, like standing on a busy street corner, at a desk in a cubicle, or high on a cold, snowy hilltop.

The result: Some very unusual and often ingenious contraptions that will cause such a ruckus in public that you might as well just lie down and crash on the hard ground (and without the laughs).

I had to look twice at these apparatuses and scratch my head, wondering if they were serious products or just another Photo-shopped joke blowing through the Internet:

• The Vertical Bed, made by Substitute Material and built with the help of Lower Manhattan Cultural Council's Swing Space Program, is meant to support your body as you stand and catch some Zs above any subway ventilation grate. (Yes, it's designed to attach to the grate!) It includes glasses, a free-standing umbrella, and noise-canceling headphones. Best of all, it all collapses into a portable briefcase.


• The Vertical Bed is supposed to rival Japan's Commute Chin Stand, which allows you to stand and support your body on a big crutch-like device. Let's just say you will look ridiculous standing around a crowded area trying to get some shut-eye (and somehow keeping an eye on pick-pockets!).


• And then there's the funky Sleep Suit dreamed up by architect/artist/scientist/graphics designer Forrest Jessee. Adjustable soft foam rings are compacted together and envelope you well enough to feel like you're being cushioned all around. You won't be recognizable while wearing this thing, and may be mistaken for a cross between retro astronaut and the Michelin Man.


• This one may actually get some time in the real world: the Selky Bag, which is really like a Snuggie made with high-tech materials resembling a down sleeping bag. They should have invented this for mountaineers long ago.

I don't know about you, but a classic bed, with a great mattress, sounds so much more inviting, or even just a sleep box that may be found at some airports soon. Let's face it: not all of us like to be so exposed while trying to sleep.

And then there's the low tech solution - getting a good night's sleep to avoid the need to sleep standing up, at a desk, or over a subway grate.

Sweet Dreams,

Michael J. Breus, PhD
The Sleep Doctor™
www.thesleepdoctor.com

Get tips for a good night's sleep from the WebMD Sleep Well newsletter - in your inbox weekly.

Labels: bed, mattress, sleep