12 The story of someone else

Among the huge number of rocking beds for children, there are several types of electrically powered rocking beds for adults on the market, which perform transverse reciprocating movements in the horizontal plane.

 

- Rocking bed (rockingbed.com) is a bed frame that performs transverse reciprocating movements of the mattress relative to a fixed base with an amplitude of 15-20 cm. Rocking bed was presented at CES 2019. The frame is priced at US$9,749.

 

- Ensven 2 (ensven.com) - 4 stands installed under the legs of the furniture, thanks to which the furniture performs reciprocating movements with an amplitude of 10-15 cm. The direction of movement depends on the orientation of the devices. The cost of a set of 4 stands (2 active and 2 passive) is 709 US$.

 

- Adiva one (adiva.co) - 4 stands installed under furniture, thanks to which the furniture makes reciprocating movements with the amplitude of 5 cm. The direction of movement depends on the orientation of the fixtures. The cost of a set of 4 stands (all 4 active) is 2499 Euro.

 

- Somnomat Casa (a product of SMS ETH Zurich, ethambassadors.ethz.ch/2022/02/17/3-medtech-innovations-for-a-good-nights-sleep/), a home bed with wheels hidden inside the body, which performs longitudinal reciprocating movements; in addition, the headboard of the bed is able to synchronously rise and fall.

 

All horizontal rocking devices have certain disadvantages:

 

- Horizontal plane-parallel movements differ significantly from baby rocking in the arms and from fetal vibrations during fetal development when the mother is walking, where vertical movements are the main ones.

 

- Overcoming the resting friction, which is twice as high as the friction force during movement, requires powerful electric motors, which together with the small movement amplitude does not allow for smooth movements. This causes discomfort to the user. The consequence of the smoothness of the movement at small movement amplitude is a slight acceleration, which may not be picked up by the otolithic system of the user's vestibular apparatus.

 

- Transverse horizontal reciprocating movements create a torque acting on the user and trying to “turn over” the user in extreme points due to the location of the user's center of gravity at a distance from the surface of the mattress, which causes discomfort or discomfort when the user falls asleep and sleeps.

 

- All the presented systems when moving create noise and vibration of their own propulsors or squeak of the moved furniture due to loads and elastic deformations, which interferes with falling asleep and is not conducive to rest and sleep.

 

- Horizontal reciprocating movements of furniture of considerable weight are not safe for animals and small children, and in case of tipping of the furniture it can create a real threat to the health and life of children.

 

None of the manufacturers of the aforementioned seating devices has provided measured noise levels of their devices. None of the manufacturers of these devices have real videos demonstrating the operation of their devices with a real phonogram (sound). For the above reasons, such devices cannot promote falling asleep and sleeping, and the demand for horizontal rocking devices is virtually nil.

 

The main disadvantage of the above devices is the inconvenience, discomfort or impossibility of sex due to the functionality of transverse reciprocating movements of small amplitude. 

 

It was not possible to find any offerings on the market of motion-pumping devices with vertical movement. In Muto, T.; Yoshizawa, M.I.; Kim, C.; Kume, K. Sleep-Improving Effects of a Novel Motion Mattress. Sleep Biol. Rhythm. 2021, 19, 247-253 A variable shape pneumatic mattress with multiple vertical thrusters - air chambers filled with air from a compressor - is described. Air, unlike a liquid, has the properties of compression, expansion, and temperature change with changes in pressure, which makes it, like other gases, not a suitable substance for making cyclic reciprocating motions.