NocturnOWL: Sleep-monitoring Virtual Pet Mobile Application

Abstract

Sleep is the condition a person's physical and mental-self goes into for cognitive development, emotional well-being, physical growth and overall vitality. In recent years, the most popular term that refers to sleep unfortunately is 'sleep loss'. Most commonly developed among working class and students who succumb to the 'long-hours culture' that this condition has evolved into a norm in our daily lives. Eradication or mitigation of this pandemic-like disorder is a global necessity and hence, the innovation of our mobile application 'nocturnOWL'; the product of a notion to infuse a simulated virtual pet with a sleep tracking mechanism to aid a user in monitoring whether he or she achieves adequate amount of sleep in twenty four hours. It also helps regulate their respective biological clocks by alerting the user to acquire sleep at appropriate times depending on the necessity. The application is also designed to keep the user notified of their lack of sleep by incorporating an emotional attachment in the form of a virtual pet. © 2019 IEEE.