Finally, what you have all been waiting for: a place to nap in public now exists. You know, besides uncomfortably dozing off on the bus or subway after a long day in the cubicle. Even better: this method is legal, safe, Wi-Fi connected and most importantly, cozy as can be.
Sleepbox, a startup that has created what it considers to be “sleep vending machines,” has installed its first U.S. napping pod at Brooklyn Boulders in Somerville. Athletes at the rock climbing gym will be able to relax after a workout, revitalize with a nap and then maybe head on down the block to Aeronaut for a cold beer — ahh, bliss.
“It was just a design idea, but then it was published — it was actually published quite a few times — we started receiving requests and orders from all over the world,” Mikhail Krymov, CEO of the startup and now a research fellow at MIT, told BostInno.
Krymov and his business partner, Alexey Goryaniv, came up with the idea after their jobs had left them exhausted in airports with numerous flight delays and layovers. They sought a sanctum for sleep, a private space in the public sphere.
Since then, a casual concept has grown to about 60 sleep cabins in several locations across Europe. With Krymov now at MIT, Sleepbox aims to launch the “vending machine” concept in the U.S.
Each cabin features a table for (optional) work, electrical outlets and the always-necessary Wi-Fi. (We don’t know about you, but we’re totally in it for the nap, not work.) The price to use the pod at Brooklyn Boulders is including in your day pass or membership fee, and Sleepbox will soon expand to Canopy City, just next door, and the Cambridge Innovation Center.
Check out (and grab some zzz’s in) the new Sleepbox yourself at Brooklyn Boulders,12A Tyler St, Somerville.
