Mark Zuckerberg has built an innovative “sleep box” for his wife Priscilla Chan to help with her recent bout of sleeplessness.
On Sunday, the Facebook founder shared his invention on Instagram, explaining that Chan has had “a hard time sleeping through the night” since having the couple’s two young children, Maxima Chan Zuckerberg and August Chan Zuckerberg, in 2015 and 2017 respectively.
“She’ll wake up and check the time on her phone to see if the kids might wake up soon, but then knowing the time stresses her out and she can’t fall back asleep,” Zuckerberg wrote in the caption.
The 34-year-old explained that the wooden box is placed on his wife’s nightstand, and emits a faint, glowing light at the bottom between 6am and 7am.
The light is “visible enough that if she sees it she’ll know it’s an okay time for one of us to get the kids, but faint enough that the light won’t wake her up if she’s still sleeping”.
As the sleep box doesn’t show the time, if Chan wakes up in the middle of the night and sees that there’s no light being emitted, she “knows to just go back to sleep without having to worry about what time it is”.
So far, Zuckerberg’s practical creation has been working successfully, he revealed on Instagram.
“As an engineer, building a device to help my partner sleep better is one of the best ways I can think of to express my love and gratitude,” the technology entrepreneur wrote.
Zuckerberg added that a few of his friends have expressed interest in the device, which is why he shared his invention on social media “in case another entrepreneur wants to run with this and build sleep boxes for more people”.
Several people have praised the Facebook creator over his practical invention, with his Instagram post garnering almost 450,000 likes in a day.
“Genius,” commented entrepreneur Dave Morin.
“Oh yeah,” remarked America’s Next Top Model host Tyra Banks.
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President Barack Obama talks with Zuckerberg during a town hall style meeting at Facebook headquarters in Palo Alto, California, 20 April 2011
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David Cameron talks to the Facebook founder during the internet session of the G8 summit in Deauville, France, 26 May 2011
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German Chancellor Angela Merkel and former French president Nicolas Sarkozy meet Zuckerberg at the G8 summit in Deauville, France, 26 May 2011
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Zuckerberg talks to Sarkozy at a G8 summit in Deauville, France, 25 May 2011
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Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe meets the Facebook CEO at the company’s headquarters in Menlo Park, California, 30 April 2015
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Zuckerberg with former Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda in Tokyo, 29 March 2012
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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Zuckerberg at a townhall meeting at Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park, California, 27 September 2015
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Zuckerberg with other business leaders and the Chinese President Xi Jinping
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President Barack Obama talks with Zuckerberg during a town hall style meeting at Facebook headquarters in Palo Alto, California, 20 April 2011
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David Cameron talks to the Facebook founder during the internet session of the G8 summit in Deauville, France, 26 May 2011
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German Chancellor Angela Merkel and former French president Nicolas Sarkozy meet Zuckerberg at the G8 summit in Deauville, France, 26 May 2011
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Zuckerberg talks to Sarkozy at a G8 summit in Deauville, France, 25 May 2011
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Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe meets the Facebook CEO at the company’s headquarters in Menlo Park, California, 30 April 2015
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Zuckerberg with former Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda in Tokyo, 29 March 2012
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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Zuckerberg at a townhall meeting at Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park, California, 27 September 2015
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Zuckerberg with other business leaders and the Chinese President Xi Jinping
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Numerous light alarm clocks already exist which help individuals wake up to simulations of the sunrise.
To check out seven of the best light alarm clocks, read our IndyBest guide here.