Wearable technology has been popping up for all demographics, but Sproutling aims to bring it to one demographic that hasn't seen as much as others - infants.
The device looks a little like a house-arrest anklet, and has been called 'Fitbit for your baby.' Not only that, but it promises to help parents monitor 16 different newborn vitals and variables.
While at first glance it may seem a little over the top, Sproutling actually aims to help make life simpler for new parents.
"I tried to listen at the door and I didn't want to wake her up... So I sneak in, I try and listen if she's breathing, and I end up putting my hand on her and waking her up," said founder and CEO Chris Bruce, who got the idea for the device when his second child was born.
The device straps to a baby's ankle and communicates with a base and a mobile app. It tracks heartbeat, body temperature, noise level in the room, motion, and so on, helping to indicate how well a baby is sleeping. The device can also learn the baby's patterns and even predict when the baby will wake up and whether it will be happy or not when it does.
All this information can be a lot to handle at once, so it's displayed in a simple format on the parents smartphone. If everything is going well, the background of the app will light up green. If something has gone wrong, such as if the baby has rolled onto its stomach or if it has a fever, the background of the app will be red. If the baby manages to get the anklet off its ankle, the background will light up yellow.
"We're not about presenting that wall of data," says Matthew Spolin, Sproutling co-founder. "We show you an animation so you can look at this at four in the morning without glasses or contacts and know, it's green, everything's good."
Sproutling is one of a few wearable tech companies that are creating devices for infants. Another is called Mimo, and it straps onto specially made onesies.
According to Sproutling, however, its device collects more than its competitors, is the only one that learns from the baby's behavior and is made to be as simple as possible. That may come at a price, with Sproutling's device selling for $259 with price expected to rise to $299.
Sproutling launched its pre-order campaign on Thursday with the first round of devices expected to ship in March 2015.
