Science

Casper's New Glow Lights May Not Be Smart, but They're Definitely "Nice"

At some point in my life, I slept normally. Can Casper's Glow Lights 

I’m not sure when it started, this distinctly millennial tendency of mine, but it must have been like John Green’s description of falling in love, “slowly, and then all at once.” At some point in my life, I slept normally. Now, I’ve developed a habit of drifting off to the soft glow of my laptop as it plays a well-worn episode of The Office.

Given my current state of sleep deprivation, I was obviously eager to try Casper’s new Glow Lights, a pair of wireless LED lanterns that promise to help regulate your sleep cycles. The latest offering from the popular mattress startup, Casper’s Glow Lights are its first product that’s not directly related to a bed; they do, however, support Casper’s moves towards re-branding as a wellness company with a multi-faceted approach to getting better sleep. They’ve moved well beyond mattresses, and now sell dog beds, bedding and sheets, pillows, and even a night stand.

The Glow Lights in particular have caused something of a splash, according to Casper’s site the first run has already sold out, though the company is still taking pre-orders. Here’s what it’s like to actually use them.

  • Price: Starts at $89
  • Perfect for: Wary sleepers in need of better mood lighting

Wiggling the Glow Light emits a low, night-friendly light. 

Casper

Setting Up My “Nice Lights”

What were quickly dubbed “The Nice Lights” by my boyfriend and me helped anchor a bedtime routine I’d been trying, unsuccessfully, to cultivate. Flip the lights upside down, and they turn on. Over the next 45 minutes, they slowly dim, supposedly mimicking the setting sun and serving as gentle reminder that, hey, it’s go asleep time, stop puttering around half-heartedly Marie Kondo-ing your closet.

The lanterns themselves are small — just over five inches tall and three inches wide — but powerful, emitting what’s apparently “good” light, with a warm hue of 2700K. That’s an important distinction: The bad, bad blue light, emitted from your smartphone screens, according to studies, exacerbates insomnia and interrupts the sleep cycle. The Glow Lights’ size and light weight also made them easy to place around my room, in whatever corner needed a bit of illumination, and carry around if I was getting up in the middle of the night.

As far as setup goes, the only drawback was that in my stereotypically difficult New York City apartment, both outlets in my bedroom are huddled on the wall closest to my door, making it impossible to achieve nice, balanced lighting throughout my room. They are wireless, technically, but to space them out while leaving them docked would have required getting an extension cord, which I, frankly, did not want to do.

Casper's new nightlight has already sold out. 

Casper 

Casper Glow Lights Pros and Cons

In addition to simply being nice-looking, Casper’s Glow Lights have a few nifty features that can definitely help you wind down more gracefully.

The wireless capabilities of the Glow Lights meant, suddenly, I could read in bed without the prospect of having to eventually get up to turn the lights off (reading before bed, as far as insomnia battling techniques, is also much more effective than watching something on a screen, according to some research, at reducing your stress levels and preparing your mind for sleep).

By twisting the lights, which are charged on a small, unobtrusive station, you can also shift their brightness levels up or down, helpful if you’ve decided you need to read one more chapter or are ready to snooze. Using the Glow app, users can also, apparently, utilize the Glow Lights as a non-invasive alarm clock. This feature was also not ideal for me to test in my room, which gets blindingly bright very early in the morning, which means any alarm clock is quickly beaten to the punch by my good friend Mr. Sun.

Ultimately, I found the Glow Lights to be a calming addition to my bedroom habitat, particularly at nighttime. Did they nix my TV in bed habit? No, because they can’t get inside my brain to the part that’s grown uncomfortable falling asleep in perfect silence. There are definitely bedroom apartments in the world that are better situated to appreciating them fully. Assuming a sane person laid out the outlets in your room, you should be able to light your bedroom entirely with a soft, steadily diminishing glow. Finally, the Glow Lights also inspired me to start saving up to buy some damn curtains.

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