Teen Inventors Connect DVR to Your Zzzs
British students made a wrist monitor that senses if you nod off and sends a signal to your DVR to record whatever you were watching. Future such devices could control additional household functions. Larry Greenemeier reports
By Larry Greenemeier
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We’ll be hearing a lot more about the so-called “Internet of things” in 2015. But what good are all these intelligent, network-connected appliances in your home if you can’t easily control them?
Fear not! A couple of teenagers at England’s Manchester Creative Studio have developed a wristband that tracks your pulse—so it can turn on your TiVo box when you nod off, ensuring that you don’t miss the rest of your show. The device can also trigger the TiVo to resume the program when it senses that you’ve woken up.
The students built what they call the KipstR with support from Virgin Media, as part of the company’s Switched on Futures initiative. Virgin Media customers will be able to try out the KipstR during the Christmas holiday.
Beyond guaranteeing that you don’t miss a moment of valuable television programming, such biometric gizmos someday might be able to sleep-control other aspects of your domestic Internet of things. Imagine the lights dimming and the thermostat lowering automatically when slip off to dreamland.
On second thought though, you might not want your Internet-enabled appliances to know when you are sleeping or know when you’re awake. It’s creepy enough that Santa Claus keeps track of your personal habits.
—Larry Greenemeier
[The above text is a transcript of this podcast.]
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