Napwell hits Kickstarter goal for mask that enables the perfect power nap

There is an art to taking a nap — time it wrong, and you can wake up a grumpy, grouchy monster feeling more tired than when you lay down.

Enter Napwell.

This sleep mask assigned by a team of engineers from MIT, Stanford, and Harvard Medical School hit its $30,000 Kickstarter goal today. 

“One of the major problems with naps … is ‘sleep inertia’ — that groggy feeling you get after waking up,” founder Justin Lee told VentureBeat. “I get it all the time, and almost always, this lousy feeling translates to an afternoon of lost productivity.”

Lee said he grew frustrated after seeing many of his capable colleagues lag in productivity due to small things, such as lack of sleep, that had dramatic effects.

Researchers from Harvard Medical School found that one-third of American workers aren’t sleeping enough to function at peak levels, and that chronic exhaustion is costs $63.2 billion in lost productivity a year.

The “power nap,” or a short nap that stops before you enter deep sleep, can have a powerful impact on productivity, and studies have shown it can restore wakefulness and promote performance, learning, and memory.

Napwell is a cozy-looking sleep mask specifically designed for napping. It blocks out surrounding light and has a timer for setting your ideal napping time. As you near the end of your designated nap time, the inside of the mask gradually lights up to “emulate a sunrise.”

Many people (myself included) find napping difficult. Napwell can’t help you carve out time in your schedule for a quick snooze, but it can help you make the most of any time you do manage to find.

Napwell masks are still available for pre-orders, starting with a $50 package for one mask.