If you’re partner is a snorer, you know how hard it is to get a good night’s sleep. I used to be married to one and I remember heading to bed before he did in hopes I’d fall asleep quickly before the evening “symphony” started.

The Jukusui-Kun robotic bear pillow, demonstrated at the recent International Robot Exhibition (IREX) in Tokyo, could be a couple’s best friend. The sleeper wears a pulse-oxygen meter attached to his / her hand which sends readings of the amount of oxygen in their blood to a terminal running a program with the persons vital statistics pre-programmed in. The “pillow” contains a microphone that analyzes the volume of snoring. As your partner’s snoring grows louder, this cute cuddly robot raises its paw, gently touching the sleeper’s face to trigger a change of sleeping position. And voila’ – no more snoring!

Snoring is often a sign of sleep apnea, a potentially fatal problem that causes pauses in breathing while sleeping. This little robot bear could literally help save someone’s life (and marriage). Developed by researchers from Tokyo’s Waseda University, unfortunately there are no current plans to introduce this to the commercial market. Wonder if a petition on Change.org would help?