Back in the day, we actually had to pick up the remote control, look for the pause button, point the control at the TV set, and press the pause button to momentarily stop whatever it is we were watching.
Nowadays, we can do all of the above without ever lifting a finger or even a foot. Yes, a foot. Netflix's newest pet project, Netflix Socks, helps viewers snuggle up on the couch and fall asleep without ever missing a scene of their favorite series or movie.
And it all begins at the feet.
Netflix Socks aren't your normal, everyday socks. Outfitted with an Arduino Pro Trinket microcontroller, two wide-angle IR LEDs, a single Flora Neopixel LED indicator light, a 500mAh battery, and piece of felt, Netflix's DIY project turns a simple pair of socks into high-tech comforts.
As seen in the video below, Netflix viewers watching TV (especially during long binge-watching sessions) are likely to fall asleep sometime around the fifth or so episode of a series. Now users don't have to wake up in the middle of a random episode and miss a bunch of important scenes, because Netflix's special socks pauses the stream when the user falls asleep.
Using what is called actigraphy, the sensor setup in Netflix Socks detects when a viewer has stopped moving after quite some time (probably because they've dozed off) and then triggers a signal to the TV to pause Netflix. If we're about to sleep, we may or may not notice it, but Netflix also says that an LED light pinned at the cuff of their socks will flash a red light, indicating the pause signal is about to be sent to the TV. A simple shaking of the foot should end that process.
Unfortunately, Netflix Socks' can't be bought. They must be made.
"Making Netflix socks from scratch means doing a little knitting and building some electronics," Netflix says. "If knitting isn't your thing, you can always enlist the help of a knitting-savvy friend or simply use socks you already own. To build the sensor, you'll need an understanding of electronics and microcontroller programming, and be comfortable around a soldering iron."
As Netflix gets ready to put out twice as much original content next year than it did this year, these Netflix Socks certainly are looking to be quite the rewarding DIY project that will allow you, as the company says, to "watch yourself to sleep."
Photo: Brian Cantoni | Flickr
