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This article was published on June 30, 2016

Nest is working on a smart baby crib for dumb parents


Nest is working on a smart baby crib for dumb parents

There’s been a lot of shakeup at Google/Alphabet-owned Nest recently, but the company is still full steam ahead on building its fourth product, which according to an updated patent could come in the form of a smart baby crib.

The patent details a crib that has sensors that would essentially help parents monitor their child’s sleep, temperature, movement patterns, and overall health. Air sensors could detect if the baby’s coughing, sneezing, vomiting, or if his/her diaper needs to be changed, while locking mechanisms could ensure the baby doesn’t break out of his/her little holding cell.

In some examples detailed in the patent, there are also solutions for when something happens to your baby that may cause them discomfort. For one, if they’re crying, perhaps the crib would project cartoons to keep your baby chill, or play some sort of lullaby to calm them down.

smart baby crib

If your baby wakes up before you do, the crib may display soothing LED lights to ease the child back to bed. But no, the crib won’t change your baby’s diapers for you.

It’s an interesting idea aimed at parents who have a disposable enough income to buy something like this on top of the expense of raising a child, but in your kid’s first months of life, you should probably expose him or her to humans before introducing them to a bunch of gadgets. Those first moments are how you bond with your baby, and it might be nice to be there for your kid instead of enlisting technology to do the literally dirty work.

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