  We propose a Bayesian model for extracting sleep patterns from smartphone
events. Our method is able to identify individuals' daily sleep periods and
their evolution over time, and provides an estimation of the probability of
sleep and wake transitions. The model is fitted to more than 400 participants
from two different datasets, and we verify the results against ground truth
from dedicated armband sleep trackers. We show that the model is able to
produce reliable sleep estimates with an accuracy of 0.89, both at the
individual and at the collective level. Moreover the Bayesian model is able to
quantify uncertainty and encode prior knowledge about sleep patterns. Compared
with existing smartphone-based systems, our method requires only screen on/off
events, and is therefore much less intrusive in terms of privacy and more
battery-efficient.

Computers and Society