The Circadian System was an FRST funded R&D programme that investigated sleep and sleep health, developed a new sleep surface through a concurrent research and testing programme, and developed a method of specification which enabled users to get into the right sleep system without having to lie on the surface.

The programme was carefully structured to build a true picture of product efficacy and provide an empirical basis for the sleep system. As there was no initial information in the public domain, the team undertook a pressure measurement survey of 100 people who were a cross section of New Zealand's anthropometric estimate (from very big to small). This provided 4800 text files which we had to interpret.

The key discoveries from this were that the primary drivers for sleep system specification were height, weight, and gender. A thin tall person generates more pressure (and therefore affects comfort more) than a shorter person of the same weight, while the primary difference between men and women related to men's wider shoulder breadth and women's wider hip structure.

This information was

integrated into a functional sleep surface design that was then put through a 'method of limits' test which blind tested both the product and our fledgling specification system. With an 85% success rate the team moved from testing into the next phase of detail design and testing. After the initial parts were tooled, a group of 20 people were selected to take part in an overnight test hooked up to an EEG which can measure sleep efficacy through analysing brain electrical activity.

A strong life cycle approach was implemented throughout the whole product with all aspects being fully labelled and disassembled with single material assemblies. A range of environmental studies were undertaken to fit into an ISO 14001 system.