Procter & Gamble Co. worked with Verily, a sister company of Google, to create a baby monitoring system that alerts parents using a smartphone app if a Pampers diaper needs changing. The smart diapers will use software, sensors, and video to monitor when babies sleep, pee and poo.
According to Proctor and Gamble (P&G), the app is a complete monitoring system that keeps an eye on your baby using a Logitech video camera installed in the nursery. The high-definition, wide-angle monitor is equipped with two way audio and night vision.
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The Lumi by Pampers monitoring system will be available for purchase this fall, and they claim it already has a wait list. The package comes with two packs of Lumi by Pampers diapers, two activity sensors, and a video monitor, they haven’t disclosed a price yet. The system is designed for babies from birth to twelve months old.
Lumi diapers resemble Pamper’s Swadlers, but also have an activity sensor attached to the diaper that automatically tracks a baby’s sleep patterns and when a diaper is wet. The sensors are enhanced to work exclusively with the activity sensor at each diaper change and will not work with other brands of diapers.
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The Lumi app will will keep track of feeding, sleeping, diapering and other key milestones so parents can monitor routines and patterns. (Do we really need a DIAPER to keep track of this for us?)
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Verily Life Sciences was previously called Google Life Sciences. They specialize in software, platforms and sensors for health data and helped design the diaper, along with scientists and other innovators on P&G’s Start Up Pampers team. Logitech also worked with P&G on the system for the video monitor.
P&G decided to move forward with Lumi by Pampers after research revealed parents have three unmet needs. (But does this mean they want a DIAPER to fill these needs?) According to a Lumi spokeswoman, they claim these needs are:
- Parents want to know their baby is comfortable and safe.
- Babies thrive in a routine, but routines are tough to establish and change often.
- Parents seek a deep understanding about their baby’s unique mental and physical development.1
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P&G spokeswoman Mandy Treeby added:
“While there are many tools and solutions to address some of these problems, none of the existing products on the market address all three together in a frictionless way.“1
To prevent hacking, the monitoring system adheres to the Advanced Encryption Standard and uses multi-layer security to safeguard each user’s video stream. Treeby stated:
“The Lumi by Pampers system uses industry standard protections, designed for the highly regulated area of financial services, to store and protect audio and video from the video monitors.”
“Once set up, the video monitor can only be accessed using the user’s valid Pampers account credentials. Even guests on a user’s home’s Wi-Fi network would need the user’s Pampers account credentials in order to access the account and video monitor.“1
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Would you use these diapers? Google’s partnership with Proctor and Gamble is cause enough for concern. But there are also many reasons to have serious concerns about artificial intelligence diapers that will track and irradiate your child. As we continue to learn more about the very real health risks associated with EMF’s, it seems wise to pause for a minute and think about whether we really need diapers that watch our children for us.
