Wearables may be great for human adults when it comes to health tracking, but when we’re in our nascent form, less is really more in terms of contact. Luckily, there’s a new baby monitor on the market that wants to help you keep in touch with your newborn without actually touching him or her. Meet the Raybaby, branded as the world’s only non-contact health and sleep monitor. The device promises to constantly monitor your child’s breathing and sleeping, and keep you informed via a companion app.
A Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign for the device has already raised nearly $50,000 from parents anxious to know everything they can about their bundle of joy without adding any potentially hazardous hardware to the crib. By using Ultra-wideband (UWB) radar technology, the Raybaby measures even the slightest most seemingly imperceptible movements in your baby’s chest. That way, you can always tell what your child’s respiratory rate is.
This is a critical measure of health, doctors say, as breathing irregularities could be linked to illnesses like asthma and bronchitis. If Raybaby notices that something seems out of the ordinary, it’ll send parents a notification via its associated app so necessary action can be taken.
“Using a non-contact method of tracking respiratory rates means doing away with batteries and wearables on the baby’s body,” said Ray cofounder Ranjana Nair, in a statement. “This is of vital importance with children, as comfort, hygiene, and accuracy of recorded rates become top priority,” she added.
While the Raybaby is truly tiny (it fits in the palm of your hand), don’t let its small size fool you — it packs a punch in terms of accuracy, claiming 98 percent dependability. In fact, the device has been clinically tested and features FDA approved components, resulting in measurements that are comparable to what you might find from a medical-grade sleep study conducted in a hospital.
“Parenthood is tough. It’s wonderful, exhausting, and yet somehow, richly rewarding to bring up tiny versions of ourselves,” said Ray cofounder Aardra Kannan. “But in all the madness, sometimes new parents tend to forget just how much technology can ease up their lives.”
