Sino-Singapore Health | The sleep economy heats up, and AI sleep technology moves from monitoring to intervention

China News Service, Beijing, November 2 (Zhong Yu) At present, the public's demand for sleep health is growing day by day, and the application of artificial intelligence in the field of sleep is moving from passive monitoring to active intervention. Wang Teng, founder and CEO of Yixiu, said at a recent product launch that in the past, the technology industry paid more attention to the 16 hours when people were awake, but the 8 hours when they were asleep also contained huge space for technological innovation. Sleep health is a complex system science that requires the deep integration of sleep science, AI algorithms, and software and hardware R&D capabilities.

Demand-side data provides context for this judgment. The "2025 China Sleep Health Survey Report" shows that the sleep distress rate among people aged 18 and above is 48.5%. Another report shows that in 2025, the average sleep duration of Chinese residents at night will be less than 7 hours, and about 65% of people will suffer from sleep troubles 1-2 times a week.

The supply side is also responding to these needs. Data shows that the scale of China's sleep economy has increased from 261.63 billion yuan in 2016 to 573.72 billion yuan in 2025. The number of entrants on the track is gradually increasing: traditional home furnishing companies such as Xilinmen and Mousse are upgrading to smart sleep products; in the field of smart wearables, Xiaomi, OPPO, vivo and other companies have laid out patents related to smart rings, but related products have not yet been mass-produced and launched.

While supply is accelerating, the problems faced by consumers are becoming more specific: How to judge whether a sleep product is worth paying for, and on what basis? In this regard, Wang Teng put forward two criteria in the interview. One is to see whether there is corresponding research and literature support behind the product; the other is to see the real evaluation and reputation of users.

Wang Teng believes that with the development of AI technology, sleep products will have more room for exploration in terms of algorithm capabilities and intelligent experience. "This is also an opportunity for AI hardware companies like us. On the one hand, we can apply the cutting-edge technological capabilities we have accumulated in the consumer electronics industry to our products, and on the other hand, we can further improve our products by combining our experience with AI algorithms."

John Roger Speakman, a foreign academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and a researcher at the Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, believes that in addition to mainstream application scenarios such as the medical field and basic monitoring, the biggest contribution of AI in the health field in the future is to promote personalized health advice. In the past, health advice given by large medical organizations and relevant departments was usually oriented to the entire population. With the assistance of AI, future health advice is expected to shift from general solutions based on population averages to personalized solutions adapted to individual data.