“Relaxing” is not a word anyone might associate with CES. If anything, it’s the antithesis of CES, an exhausting and wildly overstimulating marathon event that takes place in the already exhausting and wildly overstimulating Las Vegas. But the demo of Ambient’s bedside device, the Dreamy, ahead of its appearance at the CES-adjacent Pepcom, got me properly calmed down and ready to go back to bed. Dreamy is a smart sunrise alarm clock and nighttime wind-down device that features a built-in podcast player, a list of green, pink, and gray noise sound masks, guided breathing programs, contactless motion sensors to provide insight into your sleep habits, dynamic lighting with simulated sunrise wake-ups, and Bluetooth connectivity for headphones.
But the most important thing for anyone trying to avoid using their phone immediately before bed is that it’s a standalone system with all controls, features and scheduling options as well as data storage all on the device itself. And there is no subscription.
CEO and co-founder Adrian Canoso said Dreamy’s goal is “to help you disconnect from your phone, while still giving you a lot of the features you’d normally get.” You can set multiple alarms on different schedules, use soothing materials to fall asleep to, and customize how gradually your sunrise wake-up occurs. Environmental sensors are there to detect humidity, temperature, and lighting conditions during the night, giving you a better idea of how these things may affect your sleep.
The Dreamy is a relatively small device compared to other Sunrise-style watches, with a small pill-shaped body and a sleek circular touchscreen. There’s a hidden dial around the display for volume controls, and it feels great when turned with the right amount of resistance. There is also a touch strip on the top of the device so you can easily adjust the dimness of the light by dragging your finger. From the display, you can also change the direction of the light so you don’t blast yourself (or your partner) with light when your eyes aren’t ready, instead throwing the light backwards.
Its 20-LED array can go from a soft, warm orange glow to a cool and bright blue-white, and certain programs, like Aurora Borealis Soundscape, will trigger other colors of the rainbow, throwing up soothing green, blue, and magenta. More impressive is the rich sound that comes from its 50 millimeter speaker. The Dreamy features a 360-degree speaker grille on the bottom of the device that sends sound in all directions to create a more immersive ambient sound.
When a speaker is pointing at you, ,it’s almost like a laser beam coming at you,, which isn’t exactly the most comfortable experience, explained Canoso, who previously worked in industrial design and robotics, and before that, as a studio recording engineer. ,[Dreamie] Projectes sound around… so when you place it next to you on the night table, its sound spreads more. This is not the loudest speaker as we have optimized it for better sound quality at lower volumes. We don’t need it so loudly. We just need it to feel good.”
And as good as it sounds, it seems. This has me seriously thinking that I have finally found a replacement for the Philips wake-up light that I have been waiting for for almost 10 years, which has good light but absolutely terrible sound quality.
Dreamy, which costs $250, only recently started shipping after a successful crowdfunding campaign, and some features — including podcasts and sleep insights — haven’t launched yet (though I did get to see the podcast library during a demo, so it’s a real thing, and it’s expected to launch later this month). Those and other future features will come via free over-the-air updates.
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