Future Concept: Soma Sleep System: Imagining the…

For most people, poor sleep isn’t just a medical issue or a product gap – it’s a systemic failure. Stress, light exposure, diet, physical activity, and even partner dynamics all play a role.

To address this challenge, we designed a breakthrough sleep system concept, underpinned by internal wellness research and design incubation efforts. We saw that the most effective interventions wouldn’t be one-size-fits-all. They needed to be personal, flexible, and built to respond to real life.

The result is Soma – not just something you use at night; it’s a full-day, full-system rethink of what rest can be.

Closing the gap between how we live and how we rest

Sleep is one of the biggest unmet needs in wellness today. In our wellness survey, four out of five consumers reported sustained or growing interest in health and fitness, but fewer than half said they were sleeping well. That disconnect became the foundation for our latest design incubation project.  Born from our internal design incubation programme, Soma is a connected system of tools built to reshape how we approach rest. Based on the science of habit stacking, the system supports sleep by helping people wind down, balance their biology, feel more at home in their own space – and do it all without friction. Each part of the Soma system can stand alone. But together, they create a sleep stack that closes the loop between how we live, and how we rest.

Each concept within Soma was developed by our internal design and engineering teams as part of our broader exploration into wellness and the future of rest. We used a mix of traditional and emerging creative tools to shape, visualise, and communicate the concepts.

Easing the transition from overstimulation to stillness

Lucid, part of PA's Soma Sleep System future concept, is a sleep-support AR layer that softens digital stimuli and uses subtle physiological signals to detect fatigue. — A busy walk home from work is made more still as Lucid layers a calming AR filter over the world, reducing visual noise and easing the transition toward rest.

Better sleep needs to begin before bedtime, and that means changing how we use our screens. Lucid is a sleep-support layer for augmented reality (AR). Our team believes that spatial computing will soon shift toward lighter, more minimal AR headsets that blend into everyday life. That direction feels both inevitable and investable, which is why we explored how sleep-supporting features might live inside that future Lucid helps your digital world soften with you – filtering adverts, adjusting blue light, and reducing cognitive load as you transition towards sleep.

Our design team mapped the emotional and behavioural barriers to rest, observing how overstimulation builds throughout the day, then used trend forecasting and AR experience mapping to frame opportunities for calmer digital transitions.

What makes Lucid different is that it doesn’t just dim your screen – it analyses subtle physiological and behavioural signals. Blink rate, eye strain, and gaze direction help it detect fatigue and suggest moments to pause, reset, or nap. Lucid is for people who still want to be present – just not overstimulated. And it’s only the beginning of what AR can do for emotional wellness.

As part of creating this concept, we explored current AR capabilities, evaluated emerging hardware trends, and mapped realistic use cases based on our internal research into behavior, overstimulation, and digital wind-down patterns. Lucid wasn’t built from existing products. It was fully conceived by our design and engineering teams as a forward-looking interpretation of where AR and wellness may intersect.

Listening in silence, responding in sound

Meet Whisper, part of PA Consulting's Soma sleep concept. Contactless sonar sensing reads subtle movement and breathing patterns, allowing sleep to be understood quietly and without wearables. — Contactless sonar sensing reads subtle movement and breathing patterns, allowing sleep to be understood quietly and without wearables.

Where Lucid softens the digital world around you, Whisper creates calm inside the bedroom. It listens in silence and speaks in sound only to you. Building on prior work in AI-driven pattern recognition, we explored how machine learning could interpret subtle sleep movements and sonar data to create personalised sound environments without wearables.

Whisper uses sonar to track movement, breathing, and sleep cycles without wearables or disruption. It then creates personal sound bubbles with directional audio, delivering ambient noise, custom soundscapes, or wake-up tones to each sleeper without disturbing the other.

Whisper proves sleep tech doesn’t need to be worn to be personal.

Whisper, part of PA's Soma Sleep System future concept, is a non-wearable sound system that uses sonar to create personalised audio environments. — The same sonar used to sense your movement can also deliver sound with precision, waking one sleeper gently while their partner remains undisturbed.

It’s like having your own sleep environment – without needing your own room.”

Bill Vespa Design expert, PA

Delivering supplements that evolve with how you sleep

All of this sleep and life data we collect, does not just sit there, it shows up at your door. DōZ is the future of truly personal supplements. Each capsule is formulated using your real-time sleep and stress data, then delivered every two weeks, freshly tuned to your evolving needs.

DoZ, part of PA's Soma Sleep System future concept, delivers real-time, data-informed supplement capsules tailored to shifting sleep and stress needs. — Every two weeks, DōZ delivers an updated supplement formulation, adjusted based on recent sleep patterns captured by Whisper, Lucid, or connected wearable devices.

DoZ, part of PA Consulting's Soma Sleep System future concept, delivers real-time, data-informed supplement capsules tailored to shifting sleep and stress needs. — Each DōZ capsule combines fast- and slow-release ingredients to create a custom night-and-morning effect, supporting deeper sleep and smoother wake-ups from a single dose.

One night, you may need to flush out a tough weekend. The next, you might just need help locking in a great rhythm. Each capsule includes a personalised blend of nutraceuticals – backed by evidence, reviewed by experts, and designed to build momentum over time.

The concept builds on our experience working with personalised wellness systems and supplement programmes, where we have helped clients think through dosing schedules, behaviour-linked formulations, and the logistics behind adaptive delivery services. We drew from that knowledge to imagine how a data-informed capsule service might evolve in the near future.

The DōZ dispenser recommends the right capsule for the night ahead, offering just enough context to explain why it’s suggested—without overwhelming the moment. DoZ is part of PA Consulting's Soma sleep concept. — The DōZ dispenser recommends the right capsule for the night ahead, offering just enough context to explain why it’s suggested—without overwhelming the moment.

Weaving comfort, connection, and science into sleep

Knit is Soma’s adaptive textile system woven with NASA-inspired materials that respond to your body and help you and your sleep partner keep a bond. — Knit sleepwear hides responsive technology beneath a comfortable, expressive outer layer, blending performance benefits with garments people actually want to wear.

While DōZ supports your personal chemistry, we can’t forget those who share our sleep space. Knit is Soma’s adaptive textile system woven with NASA-inspired materials that respond to your body and help you and your sleep partner keep a bond. Localised warmth and gentle pressure zones help partners sync breath, align sleep cycles, and enter deeper rest, together.

The Knit blanket, part of PA Consulting's Soma sleep concept. A blanket concept that delivers responsive benefits through zoned heating and cooling. — For those who skip pajamas, the Knit blanket delivers the same responsive benefits through zoned heating and cooling—no more feet hanging out of the bottom to regulate temperature.

The Knit pillow, part of PA Consulting's Soma sleep future concept. The Knit pillow eliminates the search for the "cool side," actively managing temperature while subtly inflating to encourage snoring sleepers to roll over - without waking them. — The Knit pillow eliminates the search for the “cool side,” actively managing temperature while subtly inflating to encourage snoring sleepers to roll over—without waking them.

Our applied insights from past projects in smart textiles, soft robotics, and thermoregulating materials to imagine how responsive fabrics could support both comfort and connection between sleepers. One sleeper runs hot? The comforter adjusts. You start snoring? Your pillow gently nudges you to roll over. Knit’s components work as one intelligent system, but they also look good doing it. The outer sleepwear blends cosy performance textiles with expressive, wearable style.

To shape this concept, we studied a range of existing thermoregulating textiles, heat-mapping fabrics, comfort-pressure systems, and soft-robotic components that are already being tested or commercialised today. We used these references to evaluate what aspects could realistically be combined and how they might deliver comfort or support without feeling mechanical. Ultimately, Knit is grounded in research and pattern-finding, not speculation.

From overstimulation to restoration, and from sleep as a struggle to sleep as a system, Soma shows what rest can look like in the near future. This work represents the thinking, research, and imagination of our design and engineering teams, who created every part of this system as a way to explore where wellness might go next.