Nintendo has created a few peripherals over the years which aim to improve your health and wellbeing. From the popular Wii Fit and Balance Board to the constantly-sold-out Ring Fit Adventure for Nintendo Switch, the company makes no secret of its wacky and wonderful self-improvement ideas.
It seems the House of Mario has no intention of giving up on its devices, as a new patent filed by the company shows another peripheral could be on the cards. As spotted by Eurogamer, Nintendo has filed a patent for a sleep monitoring device, which has the ability to not only track your sleep, but also show you calming images and even emit scents to help you drift off to sleep.
The patent was originally filed last September, but has now been made public thanks to Japanese Nintendo.
Whether we’ll actually get to see this device in the flesh remains unknown. Companies often patent ideas and devices just to have them under their belts, even if actually creating them is a pipe dream.
Interestingly, we’re supposedly going to be seeing the launch of Pokémon Sleep this year. Pokémon Sleep was announced back in 2019, and will be a mobile game/app which encourages a healthy and restful sleep. Not too much is known about the project, but like pretty much every other game on the planet right now, it’s a safe bet to say it’s been delayed.
At the time, the official Pokémon Twitter account shared the following announcement: “We’re pleased to announce the development of Pokémon Sleep, a new app from @Pokemon_cojp that tracks a user’s time sleeping and brings a gameplay experience unlike any other!
“Several Snorlax were consulted on this, in case you were wondering. #PokemonSleep is coming in 2020.”
As a person with MANY sleep issues, this is actually a project I’m really keen to hear more on. Hopefully it’ll still make its 2020 release!
Featured Image Credit: Funimation/The Pokemon Company