"Clip-on sensor monitors infants for trouble" by Mark Baard | July 13, 2009
Baby-sitter technology
Autism, allergic reactions to vaccines, developmental milestones missed: It can be hard to remember that these things (statistically speaking) are much more likely to happen to someone else than to you.
That said, technology can bring peace of mind to new parents who become fixated on one particular nightmare scenario: sudden infant death.
I know it happens, I know it is a problem; however, is there nothing that the agenda-pushing papers won't use fear to sell?
The Snuza Halo (www.snuza.com) is among the latest gadgets that use sensors to monitor a baby’s crib for signs of trouble. The Halo, designed in South Africa, is unusual: rather than clipping the device to a crib or mattress, you attach it to the baby’s diaper.
The Halo senses the slightest movements. If it does not detect movement for 15 seconds - a sign the baby might not be breathing - the device vibrates the baby’s abdomen. If after a few seconds the vibration doesn’t appear to restart movement, the Halo sounds an alarm.
You might have trouble keeping the Halo functioning properly, though. Its blue rubber tip, which contains the motion sensor, must remain in contact with the baby’s skin. That means the diaper’s waistband must remain snug throughout the night. Good luck with that one.
Halo, new to the United States, is available at a handful of stores for about $200.
"Insurer develops video games to exercise more than thumbs
Related: Video Game Graduations
At the recent Games for Health conference in Boston (www.gamesforhealth.org), I made eye contact with a kid who was still at breakfast in the hotel lobby. He must have sensed I was headed for the Dance Dance Revolution-inspired digital exercise floors upstairs, because he got to the demo area ahead of me. (I imagine the boy’s fork was still rattling on his plate when he got there.)
That’s the kind of enthusiasm the health insurance company Humana is harnessing with games that exercise more than just our thumbs - games that might stave off diseases like diabetes, which are afflicting people at younger ages than before. For example, Humana (humanagames.com), a Games for Health sponsor, is pitting elementary school kids against each other in ongoing walkathons in which they can compete for virtual prizes online.
Students in several states are getting wireless digital pedometers from Humana to attach to their shoes. When they walk by a wireless access point at school, in a hallway that everyone uses at least once a day, the device automatically picks up the total footfalls recorded by each pedometer.
The Kentucky Derby serves as the theme for the Humana game called Horsepower Challenge (www.horsepowergame.com). Humana is based in Louisville. Students get online accounts through which they can track step totals, and those of their entire school, collectively. They also earn points to accessorize their own horse avatars.
Classes and schools also earn points through the Horsepower Challenge website, which they can use to doll up cartoon school buses, which they race around the globe. Humana is looking for fresh exergaming ideas. The company, through a contest called Insert Coin, will be handing out cash to those with winning concepts.
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