Alpha-Stim AID – £450
Here’s a left-field gadget if ever there was one, and to be honest the Alpha-Stim is intended more as a medical device than a consumer gadget. But we were offered the chance to try it out and, curious as ever for new tech, we gave it a whirl.
Currently being trialled by the NHS, the phone-sized Alpha-Stim stimulates alpha waves in the brain and limit sleep-affecting delta waves. The device clips to your ear lobes and produces microcurrents of electricity.
A boost in naturally-created alpha waves is claimed to reduce depression and anxiety, while too many delta waves during the day harms sleep at night. The makers of the device claim an 85% success rate in improving the sleep of insomniacs by limiting their delta waves.