Get a good night’s sleep with the new Sense gadget

At age 19, Londoner James Proud decided to skip out on college and move to the States. As one of several “Thiel Fellows,” Proud received a $100,000 grant from esteemed venture capitalist Peter Thiel to skip college, move to San Francisco, and start working in tech. Thiel didn’t expect anything in return, and Proud didn’t deliver, working odd jobs for two years before finally settling down to build something real. Proud, now 22, is today announcing Hello Inc and its first product Sense, a glowing polycarbonate orb that monitors sleep patterns and everything that happens in your bedroom in hopes of helping you catch a few more z’s. Sense is available for preorder today on Kickstarter for $99. If Sense reaches its funding goal of $100,000 it will ship in Q4 2014 for a retail price of $129. Sense measures temperature, light, motion, humidity, sound, and even the particle counts for pollen and dust in the air. It also includes a tiny circular “Sleep Pill” that clips onto your pillowcase. Like most sleep trackers, the Pill records your sleep patterns by measuring how much you move in your sleep, but without asking you to wear a wristband or strap a sensor to your mattress. The two gadgets report back to your iOS or Android device through the Sense app over Bluetooth.