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Google's clinical sleep lead has cool ideas for the future of smartwatch sleep data

I interviewed sleep medicine specialist Dr. Logan Schneider about smartwatch accuracy, sleep apnea, sleepwalkers, and more.

He credited Google's engineers for "optimizing the signal acquisition and quality," as well as the multi-path optical sensor that ensures reliable, continuous data that approaches what you'd get from a "gold standard polysomnogram." He very enthusiastically responded that "it could be a great opportunity for tech like this to actually pick up on" conditions like Restless Leg Syndrome and sleepwalking that can be difficult to catch in limited clinical contexts but that a smartwatch will detect with enough patience. And since he has to "convince people to wear a Darth Vader mask every single night" for sleep apnea, he thinks it's worth getting accustomed to some form factor of wearable tech to help you "figure out how you're feeling."

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