It’s like something from The Jetsons: Your high-tech pillow tracks and improves your sleep. When your alarm clock goes off, it tells your coffeemaker to start brewing a pot. Your thermostat turns down the heat while you’re away at work—and kills the lights you forgot to switch off. At night, you curl up on the couch and turn on the TV with your smartphone; no need to find the remote. With these smart-home technologies from St. Louis startups, the future is now.
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What It Is: A memory foam insert for your pillow that CEO Zimin Hang calls a “sleep optimization system.”
The Idea: Studies show that doses of anesthesia can be reduced when the proper sounds are played to alter brain waves. Hang figured that could work for sleep, too. In trials, Chrona has been linked to improved memory.
How It Works: Chrona tracks your sleep cycle. When you enter deep sleep, it plays low-frequency sounds to “actively enhance the quality of your sleep.”
Why It’s Cool: Chrona also tracks your sleep patterns, like a Fitbit. And it’s smart-home capable, so it can turn on your coffeemaker. Its silent alarm clock causes your pillow to gently vibrate without waking your partner.
What It Is: A “modern home security and automation service” that acts as a central hub connecting your smart home devices.
The Story: Run by St. Louisan and former Charter executive Ted Schremp, PEQ (pronounced “peek”) partners with utility, insurance, and telecommunications companies to offer smart-home solutions to their customers. Its products are also sold directly to consumers online.
How It Works: The PEQ Hub is the brain of your smart home, allowing you to control all of your smart devices from the PEQ app on your phone. That can include sensors or cameras sold by PEQ, or third-party devices such as the Nest thermostat.
Why It’s Cool: Smart devices reach their full potential when they communicate. When you walk into the house, the door sensor can tell your lights to come on. When your wife is locked out of the house, you can flip the bolt open from your phone. Plus, it’s a lot cheaper than a paid security service.
What It Is: Created by Smash Toast, Puck is a small gadget that lets you control devices from your phone.
The Idea: Founder Barnabas Helmy’s toddler daughter kept chewing on his Apple TV remote. Frustrated when it quit workeding, he invented Puck.
How It Works: You stick the Puck on the device, download the app, and throw away the remote. That’s it. The Puck talks to your phone with Bluetooth low energy and to your device with infrared.
Why It’s Cool: Unlike a remote, you don’t have to point your phone at the Puck. It works through walls, up to 150 feet away. The internal battery lasts for years. Plus, the Puck’s sleek cord-free design helps liberate your living room from wires.
