The British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT), a post-secondary school in Vancouver, has chosen to make one very important area of student life a priority: nap time. The school has just installed two sleep pods in their library, so now students busy with studying don't even have to return to their dorms for a rest.
The choice to install the pods came from student demand, library director James Rout told CBC News. Between seeing students snoozing in the library using their textbooks as pillows and reasearch showing the need for a safe, restful place for students, this seemed like a great option, located in one of the most convenient and necessary places for napping.
The sleep pods look like a barrel that you enter from a side door. Inside, students lie down on a mat made of vinyl to take their nap, which they're supposed to wipe down with cleaning supplies after like a machine at the gym. To avoid any issues of, well, using the pods for things *other* than sleeping, the library has a strict rule that only one student can be in a pod at a time—and yes, they're watching to make sure students follow that.
Not every student is crazy about the pods. One student responded on Facebook that rather than using the money for the pods, the school should have just added more tables for working. Rout says the pods did cost "several thousand dollars," but he feels they will make a positive impact on student's lives. He's hoping that they will give tired students a safe place to sleep, since previously they had students "often sleeping at their desks or sofas or couches," he told CTV News.
The school may be on to something, as similar pods have been installed in innovative companies like Facebook and Google for employee use as well. The pods available range in cost from around $2,000 to close to $10,000, with additions like the ability to play soothing music to help users fall asleep.