Cozy Up Inside an Experimental Sleep Lab in Singapore

What, in our modern, high-velocity, anxiety-filled world, qualifies as good sleep? And how can we overcome the loss of quality and quantity of sleep due to various sleep disorders? These are the questions being raised by the UK-based Loop.pH's The Chronarium Sleep Lab, a cyclical audiovisual program commissioned and produced by FutureEverything for FutureEverything Singapore, held October 10-15 at The Cathay in Singapore.

In a trailer created by Loop.pH, people can have a peep at The Chronarium installation, which features illuminated interiors and objects, circadian rhythm-based music (by Anna Meredith), and sound design, and even the ASMR culture of soothing voices. The goal, as Loop.pH explains it, is to expose visitors to different environmental stimulate in order to reset “their internal circadian rhythm for better, more harmonious sleep.” To pull it off, Loop.pH consulted with leading sleep scientist Vikki Revell, PhD, Head of Strategic Development at Surrey Clinical Research Centre.

There is a scarcity of sleep in Singapore, Loop.pH's Rachel Wingfield tells The Creators Project, so the idea of installation art-as-mid-day siesta wasn't too alien of an idea to the Singaporean passerby. Located in a busy shopping mall in Singapore, The Chronarium was accessible to those from all walks of life, from the very young to the very old. Wingfield says that the environment was inspired by the work of James Turrell and Olafur Eliasson, who are able to control and manipulate atmosphere and the “subtleties of space.”

“Visitors were extremely curious about the experience, particularly about how light and sound can affect our sleep, and how we can harness technology to help our sleep,” Wingfield says. “We asked participants to fill in questionnaires about their sleep habits, working hours, and the number of hours they spend using electronic devices. Our initial analysis of this data was very revealing and showed that 85% of people sleep less than seven hours on an average night.”

Loop.pH's research also showed that a significant proportion of people who used their electronic devices for more than 12 hours a day had difficulty going to sleep. This, Wingfield says, told Loop.pH that focusing on sleep is really being neglected in our 24-hour society, where people work long hours and have constant access to electronic devices, shortening our nighttimes.

Using The Chronarium as a public laboratory, Loop.pH sees it as opportunity to collect EEG data from a selection of visitors, recording their brainwaves throughout the sessions. They want to see if there's any marked response to the change in environmental stimuli (the light and sound program). They're especially interested in the alpha waves associated with states of relaxation.

“One of our Loop.pH team members, Kaja Ritzau-Reid is a scientist (trained in genetics) and worked with us to develop a questionnaire so we could analyse people’s relationship with technology and quality of sleep,” Wingfield says. “We were also interested to see how people’s attention and focus were affected by taking a short nap in the day, and asked some people to fill out a simple psychometric test to evaluate this both before and after the experience.”

Loop.pH collaborated with award winning composer Anna Meredith for the installation's sound. Meredith composed a piece with four phases reflecting the four sleep states, which included “pink noise,” a low frequency sound which has been shown to induce more restful sleep. Wingfield says that there are reports that pink noise is also associated with memory improvement. Meredith also incorporates binaural beats into The Chronarium, which can induce low brainwave frequencies associated with sleep. This soundtrack, combined with the changing lights through the visible spectrum to complete darkness, creates what Loop.pH calls “brainwave entrainment,” designed to take people from their awake state to a deeply relaxed state.

Loop.pH's preliminary findings show that on average, “people displayed sharper cognitive focus after the experience.” Wingfield says that this is particularly interesting to the group because it shows that humans can potentially improve their work efficiency by taking naps during the day.

Wingfield says that Loop.pH sees The Chonarium as a “design project that has been informed by science.” She says that design can provide an accessible way for the average person to engage with cutting edge science which may take years to enter the public domain.

Chronarium from Loop.pH on Vimeo.

“The effects of our modern lives, including artificial light, sound, and our electronic devices have a major impact on sleep quality, and it's important to be able to communicate this in ways which are accessible to the general public,” she says. “We plan to continue to develop this project, and further our collaboration with scientists to better understand the effects of our modern day environment on the human body. (Development of smart lighting technology, etc.; much more awareness of the negative/positive impacts of technology on sleep.)”

Click here to see more of Loop.pH’s projects.

Related:

A Journal of Insomnia Is A Surreal Interactive Documentary

Skip Traffic, Traverse Space and Time in a Roadside Mini-Universe

An Alien Tunnel Is Breathing Clouds in the UK