New AI ‘baby translator’ knows why your child is crying
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A new artificial intelligent-powered device is helping to answer the million-dollar question for new parents – why is my baby crying?
Qbear is a circular, silicone-covered device with software that analyzes cries to determine if the baby is hungry, tired, needs comfort or has a dirty diaper – and it does so in just 10 seconds with 95 percent accuracy.
Parents receive notifications about their child’s noises through a companion app, which also displays updates on their baby’s comfort level and room temperature.
Qbear is currently showcased at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, showcasing the latest products and technologies in the consumer electronics industry.
Qbear sits on the side of a crib, bassinet or stroller and activates when it hears the baby crying and ‘tells’ parents what their child needs via a companion app
Qbear has three available placement options: tabletop, wall hanging and crib stand.
The technology was developed using an 18-layer deep learning architecture and processed GPU pre-training mode through more than 10,000 rows of crying data from babies.
And the AI can perform a pain and discomfort analysis to keep track of a baby’s physiological condition at any time.
The device is also programmed to automatically play a lullaby and patented womb-simulating noise while turning on the carefully designed sleep aid light when it detects the baby is ‘tired.’
Hikari TSAI, CEO of Quantum Music, the company that makes Qbear, said in a statement: ‘Parents, especially first-time parents have a difficult time juggling career demands and family life.
‘We invented Qbear to assist parents in understanding their babies and consequently providing more support to both parent and child.’
The device comes with a companion app and other readings that display why your baby is crying.
The app is also compatible with Alexa, suitable to use in modern households.
While the AI is trained on baby cries, it also learns the unique sounds of the user’s child to produce even more accurate results.
However, Quantum Music notes that there are times when a baby is crying that do not align with one of the four detected by the AI.
Other features within the system monitor the room’s humidity and indoor temperature.
Qbear is a circular, silicone-covered device with software trained to recognize different cries to determine if the baby is hungry, tired, needs comfort or has a dirty diaper – and it does so in just 10 seconds with 95 percent accuracy
Parents can also keep a diaper index within the app and input urination frequency to understand better when their little one might need to be changed.
The company states that nurses, doctors and scientists had a hand in helping with the development of Qbear, but when the technology is available has not yet been revealed.
Until Qbear hits markets, scientists have offered a ‘recipe’ to lull a baby to sleep that is surprisingly simple.
Researchers from the RIKEN Centre for Brain Science in Japan claim that the trick to soothe a crying infant is to carry them in your arms for five minutes, then sit with them in your arms for five to eight minutes before placing them in their cot.
Kumi Kuroda, the corresponding author of the study, said in a statement: ‘For many, we intuitively parent and listen to other people’s advice on parenting without testing the methods with rigorous science.
‘But we need science to understand a baby’s behaviors because they’re much more complex and diverse than we thought.’
The researchers theorized that the transport response might help soothe human infants.
To test if this was the case, the team compared 21 crying infants’ responses under four conditions – being held by their mothers and their sitting mothers, lying in a still crib, or lying in a rocking cot.
The system was trained through more than 10,000 baby crying data rows. The company notes that not every cry will be one of the four detected by the AI
Other features within the system monitor the room’s humidity and indoor temperature. The company has not year revealed when Qbear will hit the market
The team’s observations revealed that when the mother walked while carrying the baby, the crying infant calmed down, and their heart rate slowed within 30 seconds.
A similar effect was seen when the infant was placed in a rocking cot.
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