Ever wished you could sneak off in the middle of the day for a cheeky nap?
Well that’s exactly what students in Edinburgh will soon be able to do - in a high tech pod perfectly designed for catching forty winks.
Students at the University of Edinburgh became the envy of workers and pupils everywhere this week after passing a motion to get four nap pods installed in their library.
The pods, which are popular in Google’s offices and cost about £10,000 each, play specially composed sleep music and use gentle wake up sequences involving lights and vibrations.
Students at the top Scottish university voted overwhelmingly in favour of installing the futuristic sleep chambers, with 84% of the 1,900 people who voted supporting the motion.
The decision follows a report from student-led think tank, the Buchanan Institute, on why two rooms in the library should be converted to house two pods each.
“Student satisfaction for the university is low (120th in the UK according to the 2017 Complete University Guide) and one major factor contributing to this can be student welfare and comfort,” the report reads.
“Harvard Medical School’s Dr Charles Czeisler has argued that sleep is the ‘third pillar’ of health directly linked with wellbeing and productivity.
“Dr Czeisler has highlighted the consequences of sleep deprivation on one’s health, productivity, alertness and awareness.”
Following the successful vote, the students association will now put forward a formal request for the pods to university management.
But with a potential bill of £40,000, the nap pods have divided student opinion.
Commenting on a petition in favour of the sleep chambers, Cara Wilson said: “I work early at weekends and have 9am lectures four days a week. I am always tired and sometimes fail to take adequate notes in lectures because of this.
“Being able to easily sleep for an hour between classes would help immensely.”
However, other students have suggested that the money would be better spent in other areas.
One young woman told the National Student: “It´s good they’re listening to students but I think its shady that I can´t get any more counselling from the university and would have to go private but they can afford to build novelty ‘nap pods’ - and the people who sleep in the library do it anyway!”
Others suggested the nap pods would quickly be repurposed by raunchy library-goers..
An Edinburgh University spokesman said: “The University of Edinburgh is always open to discussions with its students on a wide range of initiatives to help improve the student experience.”