riposa Circle Sleep® – produced in Switzerland, recycled in Switzerland. Find out more
«If we measure the distance from the soles of the feet to the top of the head, and then apply that measure to the outstretched arms, the breadth will be found to be the same as the height, as in the case of plane surfaces which are perfectly square». These lines were written by the Roman architect Vitruvius in the 1st century BC. He did not know then that he was laying the foundation for one of the most famous drawings in human history: Leonardo da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man, which da Vinci used to illustrate «the proper proportions of a well formed human body» according to Vitruvius.
Now we know that human bodies and their proportions cannot be generalised or forced into a pattern. No two bodies are the same, and in most cases it is neither possible nor feasible to try make human bodies fit a standard. Imagine if we suddenly aligned corridor and door heights with a theoretical average: half of us would bang our heads on the door frames. Today, there is much more individualisation – or where this is not possible, an alignment with limits or extreme values.
Swiss Sleep Science – a cooperation between the sleep system manufacturer riposa and the ETH spin-off swissbiomechanics – takes the great diversity of human body proportions and shapes into account. The specific body proportions and characteristics of each visitor to the Swiss Sleep Science competence centre at Sihlcity in Zurich are recorded by means of a personal back and lying analysis – and a sleep system to suit each individual is put together during a subsequent expert consultation. For tall people with a slender build, for example, the length of the mattress and the slatted base is particularly important – products with special sizes may have to be considered to ensure that they will feel comfortable in bed. For particularly muscular, athletic people with broad shoulders, on the other hand, the focus is more on gently enveloping the shoulder area. As for slightly heavier people, special attention should be paid to the distribution of pressure on the mattress to avoid overloading, for example in the hip area.
Every day, the «Swiss Sleep Science» team at Giesshübelstrasse 15 in Zurich (right next to Sihlcity) welcomes people who want to sleep better, do something good for their body and musculoskeletal system, or put an end to their pain and sleep complaints.
