If you thought you’d seen it all in the world of tech gadgets, prepare to think again. From Ikea in the United Arab Emirates comes the smartphone beda mini-version of our beds complete with mattress, blanket and pillow. No, it’s not a joke: it’s a real product, complete with interlocking headboard and framejust like the ones we assemble (and disassemble) at home. Its purpose? Make you sleep — really.
The “bed” is not just used to place the smartphone on the bedside table while it recharges: thanks to a system Integrated NFCit can understand if your phone is “sleeping” or if you are still using it late at night. And here comes the best part: if you leave your smartphone at rest for at least seven hours, for seven consecutive nightsyou receive in exchange a AED 100 voucher (around 23 euros) to spend right at Ikea. Basically, the more you sleep, the more you save.
When design meets digital health
The gimmick was born from an idea as simple as it was intelligent: turn digital detox into a game.
You don’t need apps, coaches or viral challenges: just place your cell phone in its bed and let it “rest”. The goal is to push people to disconnect before sleeping, reducing that bad habit – now widespread – of scrolling through social media, videos or notifications until the last second before closing their eyes.
He also remembered it Carla Klumpenaarmarketing and retail design director of Ikea UAE:
Sleep is probably the most important design project of our lives, but also the most overlooked.
A clear message, which combines irony, technology and awareness. Because, in the end, the smartphone bed it is a gentle provocation: it reminds us that, to sleep well, we must first “put our digital part to sleep”.
You won’t find it in the catalogue: how to get the Ikea smartphone bed
No illusions: the smartphone bed. At the moment it is one limited edition reserved for Ikea customers in the United Arab Emiratesa small promotional gift for those who spend at least 200 dollars (about 172 euros). A curious gadget, a little playful and a little educational, which aims to raise awareness of a real problem: the abuse of smartphones before sleeping.
In the promotional video — shot with Ikea’s classic ironic style — you can see hands assembling the tiny bed step by step, while the cell phone settles under the blanket like an exhausted newborn. The message is clear: if you want to sleep well, let him sleep too.
It’s not just a gadget. Ikea has found a brilliant way to remind us that the brain also needs “airplane” mode. Sure, it’s a viral campaign, but behind the irony lies a serious truth: the screen turned on until late at night compromises the quality of sleep and eye health. And if a small bed was enough to change habits, it wouldn’t be a bad idea, right?
