Equipment to help parents look after children

Yoko Ihari is watching his 5-year-old son Yoshinobu play in the nursery in Tsukuba (Japan). Ihari worked all day and often worried about the little boy when he was at work. She is in the same mood as many other mothers. Therefore Ihari participated in a 5-week trial program with many parents.

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Ihari and Yoshinobu are part of a child safety testing project. Application technology integrated in this device can not only monitor the location of the child's activity, but also monitor what the child sees and their heart rate.

If the baby's heartbeat is beating faster than usual, the device immediately takes a photo in the child's eye-catching direction and alerts parents via e-mail. The device is a group of engineers, led by researcher Seung-Hee Lee of Tsukoba University.

Child care providers can use this device to identify those who are bullied, knowing that the child is threatened by other children if they wear the device at the same time.

A password-protected Web site, allowing parents to access and receive photos of the day. During the trial, 10 children aged 2 - 6 years will wear this 97g weight device for several hours each week.

Like a camera, it includes a gyroscopic accelerometer, GPS receiver and a digital compass. Heart rate monitor is hidden under the shirt.The device is designed to be suitable for young children's activities and beautiful forms that make children excited to wear.

To minimize the negative effects of children exposed to electromagnetic waves, the device only emits signals equal to 1/100 of the cellphone's electromagnetic waves. Weak signals mean 30 relay devices and 18 transmission devices are installed around the nursery. Currently each wearable device costs 200,000 yen (about 800 euros). But with cheaper sensors, the team hopes to be able to make devices that are half as cheap and suitable for people with dementia.

In the future, this device will be used for elementary school students, aged 6-11 in Japan, with a microphone that can record conversations. Kenji Kiyonaga, a child safety expert at Tama Women's University (Kanasaki), said the device was an intervention, but accepted in Japan, at least in the future. close, because the privacy standards here are not high.