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| MonBaby |
The device snaps to a onesie or other clothing. It’s actually two parts—the electronics live in a rounded plastic disk that goes on the inside of the garment, and a thin plastic button snaps over it on the outside, trapping the fabric in the middle to create a tight seal. The enclosure is splashproof, as any baby-centric gadget needs to be.
An accelerometer, Bluetooth Low Energy radio, and replaceable coin battery are MonBaby’s major components. Algorithms in the MonBaby app detect breath and movement, while the Bluetooth connection doubles as a proximity monitor for crawling escape artists. The battery should last a few months with normal use—MonBaby is designed mostly for use during naptime and can be turned off when parents are giving the child their full attention.
From the accelerometer data, the app can pick up on a sleeping infant’s breathing rate. Then it can alert parents to changes that indicate the child has stopped breathing, or is starting to wake up. The sensor can also tell what position the baby is in and provide an alert if the child rolls onto its side or stomach—health authorities say infants are safest when sleeping on their backs. And for kids who are learning to walk, MonBaby can also detect falls.
Multiple phones can pair to MonBaby, even in families split by the dreaded iOS/Android divide, and the various alerts can be toggled on and off independently depending on what users want to monitor at the time. But even with all alarms active, the MonBaby team wants parents to know that their product “cannot replace proper parental supervision.”
Future versions of MonBaby may include a microphone, and the company is exploring partnerships with makers of audio/video baby monitors—a natural fit, since MonBaby detects problems that may not be apparent from a lack of sound or motion. And though this device is intended for infants, its form factor and features could work just as well for adults who need a bit of extra looking after.
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