Sleep Detector

& what is the transduser you are going to use to sense sleep??

don't know yet. searching for ideas.

Sleep ... what's that ? If you need sleep, you don't belong in CR4

Mom.

GA to you! That has been the bset Sleep Detector invented so far to switch off i-pods, computers, TVs, Tape Recorders, etc. Modern Science is yet to find anything as successful and as reliable.

It just gets worse!

Turn the thing off, or better still get rid of it! Give us all a break from the anti-social things

There are experiments being conducted in the Automotive industry on trying to detect when a driver falls asleep, but I don't know if they have released anything as a product yet. Most of the initial research had to do with detecting nodding of the head, which would be useless in this kind of application. They also tried looking at eyelids but it was considered too risky to do with small lasers and too expensive to do with cameras. The latest I heard of was a brain wave detection system (Delta waves) and I believe that is close to fruition. In other words "They have an App for that now..." This system is already available to use as a direct mental interface to Apple products, it could probably be adapted to turn the device off if you do fall asleep. Under $100 US.

http://www.plxwave.com/info.html

I may be mistaken but don't the newer iPods' have a thing called "Sleep Mode" or "Sleep Timer"?

Most Computers, TV's, Table Radios, Coffee Brewers, and Portable CD Players have this in one form or another.

Does it matter if the device "shuts off" a little before or after sleep comes or are you looking for a device that will actually detect the precise moment of abrupt shut down of the neural processes (which when active allows us to perceive the world around us when we are awake)?

If the later is the case, it is apt to be quite costly.

Depending on the device and environment, could you possably use a simple lamp fixture/small appliance timer?