Raising a child is anything but easy. Sacrificing sleep, constantly changing diapers, preparing baby food, and keeping a check on the baby 24/7 is not only mentally exhausting but also physically tiring. In order to decrease these stress levels, the Swiss industrial designer, Yves Behar, has come up with the SNOO Smart Sleeper. It took him five years and a collaboration with the top pediatrician Dr. Harvey Karp, who speculated the idea of using robotic technology to help babies and their parents to get sufficient sleep.
Moving onto the product itself, the SNOO Smart Sleeper is a rocking crib that has the ability to replicate the rhythms babies experience in wombs. These rhythms are in accordance with the baby’s level of fussiness and crying. The motion’s intensity and white noise is adjusted accordingly. In addition to this, there is a sleep sack as well that swaddles the baby and ensures that the baby is on its back the entire night. Keeping safety in mind, the Smart Sleeper is designed in such a way that the crib only operates once the baby is properly placed in the sack.
Furthermore, the SNOO Smart Sleeper has three microphones attached to it that not only detect the baby’s crying but also differentiate it from noise. Below the mattress are sensors and a robotic engine that integrate to pacify a baby. SNOO is categorized as smart for a reason – it has the ability to alter movements i.e. from slow swinging to tiny jiggles as well as sounds. However, if the baby cries for more than three minutes, the SNOO stops all functions since beyond this point, the reason for the baby’s discomfort isn’t lack of sleep.
Lastly, the Smart Sleeper can be controlled through a mobile app. For parents who might be apprehensive of the Wi-Fi radiation, there is a metal shield for safety even though there was zero exposure according to the test results. If you are wondering how it looks, it is pretty sleek. It has a wooden base, a double layer of mesh that encourages ventilation and visibility, and hairpin-style legs. Retailing at a price of $1,160, SNOO is a bit pricey but parents who have been having staying up will pay almost anything just to get a good night’s sleep.
The video below shows how the SNOO smart crib put four crying infants one by one to sleep through its jiggling movements while simultaneously making a whirring sound similar to that of a blow dryer.
Images: Happiest Baby
References: Happiest Baby, Daily Mail, Curbed