If you have a smartphone and a smartwatch, you will be able to connect both via companion software. If you run the health tracking software on your phone, you will see that your smartwatch is tracking how much you have slept. So, if you are a tech-savvy person, you will definitely ask ‘how does sleep monitor work on smartwatch?’ In this article, we intend to explain the technology behind this.

Sleep tracking:

Before we explain, you need to know why a sleep tracker is important. If you have a serious sleeping disorder and need constant reminders that you need to take proper rest to have a healthy lifestyle. The sleep monitor option of the smartwatch you are wearing does just that. It assumes the nagging mom, or a health instructor and constantly reminds you about your lack of sleep. If you do not sleep well, you will have serious health issues like headaches, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and many more health risks. That is why you must sleep well, eat well and be active throughout the day to reduce your health issues.

The explanation:

Let us be frank. You cannot expect your smartwatch to accurately track your sleep. Your watch is not a human, and it cannot understand if you are awake and reading a book without moving on your bed or you are actually sleeping. 

The technology behind this sleep tracker is a little element named tri-axis accelerometer. This can sense motion. There are more advanced smartwatches with gyroscopes that monitor your movement.

Through a process named actigraphy, the smartwatch can translate the movement of your wrist into your sleeping habit. As you can see that this process can only track movement, it cannot be compared to an accurate translation of your sleep. Like, you can change sides while you read a book on your bed, and this technology will not be able to understand if you are actually sleeping or just reading while lying down.

To properly understand your sleep pattern, you need someone to monitor your brainwaves, breathing, eye movement, etc.

Anyway, although these smartwatches are not proper trackers, they can give you something to think about. You can do some guesswork and figure out how much you are sleeping. The technology works like a measuring tape for you. From there you can plan your sleeping habits.