A patent application filed by home automation innovator Nest suggests that the company plans to develop baby-related technology.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) published the patent application from Google for a "Crib With Embedded Smart Sensors." The patent application notes Maxime Veron, the director of product management and hardware marketing at Nest, as the inventor of the technology.
The patent application by Alphabet-owned Nest suggests that the crib will be loaded with sensors, communication devices, monitors and microphones. Currently, customers have to buy monitoring tools such as monitors and more separately.
The need for baby monitoring products has spiked over the last few years. Parents want to ensure that their babies get the best attention even when they are away.
The potential smart crib from Nest will have sensors in the frame and mattress to keep a vigil on an infant's condition. Parents will get notifications on their smartphones whenever the baby does anything.
For instance, the motion and pressure sensors will notify parents when a baby is awake. The built-in microphone will allow parents to hear when the baby is crying in the crib.
"A dirty diaper (e.g., based on air sensor), an illness (e.g., vomit detected by air sensor), heart palpitations detected (e.g., by pressure sensor), unusual lack of movement (e.g., based on a motion sensor), an unusual by temperature (e.g., by a temperature sensor and/or a thermal imaging camera), coughing or sneezing (e.g., by motion capture camera and/or a microphone), etc.," notes the patent application.
The Nest crib also has speakers and projectors that will start a display of cartoon animals on the ceiling. Parents will also have the option to customize some settings on the Nest crib. Customers can set the smart crib in a way that it plays soothing sounds or displays lights at a specific time and day.
The smart crib is expected to offer a number of features, which will help parents manage their babies with ease. Just like other smart home products, customers should expect to splash a few hundred dollars on the Nest crib if launches in the near term.
Alphabet applied for the patent in December 2014. It is worth noting that a patent application gives a glimpse of a company's plan. However, it is not necessary that a company will actually develop and release a product related to that patent.
Photo: Valentina Powers | Flickr
