Bluebell: smart baby monitor

Smart baby monitor | the brief

Tangerine, an international design consultancy with offices in the UK, South Korea and Brazil, was approached by Bluebell, a start-up, in 2016. The founding members of Bluebell (a psychiatrist, an A&E doctor and a data analyst) wanted to develop a smart baby monitor to improve parent and baby routine and well-being.

Three-part monitoring device

To deliver the support and reassurance that parents needed (as identified through Bluebell’s research), the baby monitor required three components; a parent wearable device, a baby monitor and a smart hub.

The smart hub relays information from the baby monitor, which is attached to a baby’s clothes or sleep suit, to the parent wearable device in the form of a wristband. The wearable devices connect via thread technology, a form of Bluetooth typically used for smart home products.

How does it work?

As well as the three physical products, there is a smartphone app which parents can use to view and track their baby’s behaviour including skin temperature, breathing and movement. The baby monitor also has a microphone to identify noises, such as crying.

Parents are sent an alert, in the form of vibrations, icons on the display or flashing coloured lights, through their wristband, if there is a problem. Different alerts correspond to different issues or behaviours.

By pressing a button on their wristband, parents can make the baby monitor play white noise and lullabies, as well as turn on a night light in order to calm the baby. Pressing a different button results in parents being able to input and record data, such as when they last fed their baby or changed its nappy.

By remotely controlling these elements reduces the disturbances caused by going into the baby’s bedroom. As a result, parents have more freedom and autonomy.

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