Carnegie Mellon graduate's idea for sleep salon evolves into nap-at-work business

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ^ | January 14, 2008 | Elwin Green

[rightwingintelligentsia]

If a Post-Gazette poll taken last week is any indication, a lot of you are really stressed about work.

To the question, "Do you have nightmares about your job?", a full 77 percent of respondents -- 815 out of 1056 -- said "yes."

Maybe you need to take a nap. At work.

That's the idea behind Metronaps, the New York-based brainchild of Carnegie Mellon University grad Arshad Chowdhury. Metronaps offers businesses the opportunity to increase productivity by helping workers to take naps. The service includes an "energy assessment" that surveys workers to evaluate the impact of fatigue in the workplace and seminars that offer workers tips on boosting energy.

But the centerpiece of the Metronaps is the Energy Pod, a souped-up lounge chair that looks like it would fit in the Jetsons' living room. The EnegyPod incorporates a semi-spherical dome to help shut out the world, a built-in music player to help the napper slip into dreamland, and a timer which ends the sessions with lights and vibration for a gentle wakeup.

[Oratam]

Worked for this guy.

[angkor]

There’s something creepy (and potentially unhygenic?) about napping in the same “pod” used by my fellow employees.

[6SJ7]

But the centerpiece of the Metronaps is the Energy Pod, a souped-up lounge chair that looks like it would fit in the Jetsons' living room.

I've got my own personal Energy Pod in my living room. It's called a Barcalounger.

[Mr. Brightside]

GEORGE: Jerry, look at my eyes.

JERRY: A little less beady today.

GEORGE: Because I’m REFRESHED. I finally found a way to sleep in my office. Under the desk. I lie on my back. I tuck in the chair. I’m invisible.