Irish consumer technology business Sula Health has unveiled the Sula Glasses, its debut product, alongside a new sleep app. In travel retail, the brand is managed by Shannon Retail Innovation.
The Sula Glasses are a wearable device offering cutting-edge light therapy that aims to promote better sleep quality.
They are complemented by a sleep app that informs customers on the optimal time to take a light therapy session throughout the day.
The glasses simulate the rising and setting of the sun with built-in lightweight light therapy electronics that reset the user’s circadian rhythm.
They are also equipped with artificial light filtering lenses that help users adjust to night-shift work and jet lag. The company said that daily 30-minute light therapy sessions are enough to sync the user’s body clocks to their lifestyles.
“As more people spend long hours working indoors on computers our circadian rhythm struggles to reconcile its daily rhythms with our lifestyle demands,” said Sula Health Founder and CEO Damien Kilgannon. “That is where light therapy and Sula can help. It supplements the body’s circadian rhythm with light, simulating the effect of natural sunlight and ensuring the user gets optimal sleep.”
Sula Health’s technology is backed by chronobiological research which has demonstrated light therapy’s ability to suppress melatonin synthesis.
The American Academy of Sleep Medicine published its sleep therapy guidelines in 2015, which recommended light therapy as a suitable treatment for a range of intrinsic and extrinsic circadian rhythm sleep disorders.
Kilgannon added: “As air travel returns, Sula will play a key role worldwide to help long haul passengers overcome the debilitating effects of jet lag. Sula will also be extremely beneficial for shift workers like nurses, doctors and care providers who regularly work night shifts.
“During lockdown, we have all been spending long hours working indoors on computers, causing our circadian rhythm to struggle when trying to reconcile with our sleep with our lifestyle demands,” said Kilgannon. “This is another key area where light therapy and Sula will help by simulating the natural effects of sunlight, helping the user get optimal sleep.”
Former Aer Lingus CEO and Emirates Group Support Services President Dermot Mannion has been acting as an advisor to Sula Health for two years. Mannion has helped develop the product from initial concept to final product.
“My initial interest in Sula was sparked by the obvious benefits for long haul travellers,” said Mannion. “In addition, it has become clear over time that Sula will be of benefit to a much broader customer base which includes personnel working long and often unsocial hours.”
He added, “Indeed, anyone whose daily routine is subject to disruption from time to time can benefit from Sula Glasses; a feeling we have all come to know very well in this period of lockdown. In the aviation industry of the future, smart new ideas on ‘wellness in the air’ will be one of the keys to success. For that reason, I am delighted to have been working closely with Sula Health on the development of their exciting new wellness product.”
