Toddler Tracking: Why The Next Generation Is Not Going To Care About The NSA
LatestPrivacy is a big deal nowadays. We don’t want to be watched at all times, we’re cautious about email, and, quite frankly, we’re terrified about the government.
But that’s our generation, one exposed to data leaks and Snowden scares. The same can’t be said for the children of tomorrow. For these kids, privacy will be an alien concept largely because they will have grown up used to having every single step of their existence mapped, tracked, and documented.
To fully explain this, lets have a look at a few choice baby gadgets that have been released recently.
The BeLuvv Guardian: Hi-Tech child leash
Strap this pastel watch-like tool on to your little one and you can feel comfortable knowing that wherever they wander you can wirelessly track them. The BeLuvv Guardian works with your cellphone and alerts you if they go out of range, maps their exact location and you can even share their data with other “trusted” Guardians so everyone can watch over/stalk your child.
$24.95 on pre-order
The Mimo wearable onesie that tracks every move
Tracking during sleep. Yep, the Mimo onesie lets parents know their babies skin temperature, activity level and body position. It lets them feel confident that their precious is safe and cared for. As if that wasn’t enough, you can also also listen to an audio stream thanks to the Mimo’s sensors.The onesie is made of organic cotton and the sensors are applied by heat press so there’s no irritating glue. The Mimo pairs via Bluetooth with a receiver that connects and sends the captured data to your phone. This information can be used to gather analytics on the babies sleep and activity over time in addition to providing reassurance on the go. No plans yet to incorporate this for teenagers…
The Owlet is a sock that measures babies’ health
Babies are fragile little things, aren’t they? They cry a lot and you never know what they want. Are they feeling okay? Do they have enough oxygen? Those questions are no longer unanswerable thanks to the Owlet sock! The smart sock is equipped with sensors that measure the baby’s heart rate and oxygen levels using pulse oximetry (how doctors read pulses). We’re moving away from measuring movement and room behavior to actually keeping track of bodily functions.
The Lorex Live Connect: Baby watching with Nightvision and more
A baby monitor system brought to you by a company known for their surveillance operations should be a huge indicator of how this market is changing. The Lorex system includes a temperature monitoring sensor, a two way microphone, an integrated camera to allow wireless viewing over Skype, among other features you’ll probably never even use. This device also lets you remotely select from a library of lullabies, so you never even need to sing them to sleep. This is the future, folks!
You think this is a lot to take in? How about tracking babies while still in the womb. Yes, THE WOMB.
That is just what BabyWatch purports to do.
Using something that looks like a cross between a Slendertone and an iPod, you can listen in to your baby’s heartbeat and SHARE it on a dedicated social network for unborn baby sounds called GlobalBeat. According to their site, the Babywatch app allows pregnant women the option to “interact amongst each other,” by providing them “with medical data visualizations and infographics based on analysis of uploaded tracking data.”
I feel that pretty much says it all.
Note: These are a small part of a larger group of baby tracking gadgets, so these do not sit alone.