- Biometrics: measurement of characteristics in an individual such as DNA or fingerprints
- Kansei: method to translate feelings; invented by Professor Nagamachi in the 1970’s (Japanese word)
- One of the main problems of taking care of a baby is understanding why it is crying
- Many Japanese scientists have been working on a monitor that can measure a baby’s feelings and emotions, so a parent can accurately know what needs to be done
- Using kansei
- The team has been studying with biometrics to analyze the frequency and recorded audio spectra, so that they can accurately determine what the baby wants
- These scientists also wanted to find out when a baby is crying when it is hurt versus when it is crying because it wants to be fed, changed, rocked…
- They compared regular babies to babies with a painful genetic disorder
- These babies mostly only cry because they are in pain
- They discovered the cry for the genetic disorder babies, so they could also tell when a regular baby was actually hurt
- One day, this method will hopefully be put into use with a portable device or iPhone app
Discussion
- I chose this article because I did the Real Care Baby, and I remember that many times I was not sure what the baby wanted, and had to try many different things.
- I also thought it was interesting how this process has been started to be created in the 1970s, and it’s only being wrapped up now
- I also thought this was interesting because I never thought people could actually create something to tell a person’s feelings
- The babies with genetic disorders also shows how far their research is since they have been using a different variable in their experiments
- All the articles about this do not give any time frame of when this equipment could come out, so I want to know how soon it will be before people can buy it, and how much it will be.
- Does this technology only rely on sound, so people could just place it near the child, and they will automatically know what needs to be done?
- Will this machine soon become as essential as a stroller is now?
- What’s the accuracy rate for the machine always being correct?
Inderscience Publishers. "An Emotion Detector for Baby." Science Daily 24 Feb.
2010: n. pag. Web. 27 Feb. 2010.
2010/02/100224103355.htm>.
2010: n. pag. Web. 27 Feb. 2010.
2010/02/100224103355.htm>.
