A Kickstarter campaign launched earlier this month is aiming to help save the lives of children across the country with an iPhone-connected, weight-activated child seat sensor called Starfish. The concept is fairly simple. The Starfish sensor pairs with your iPhone via Bluetooth, then fits under the padding of a child safety seat in your car.
Once the sensor detects a child in the seat, it creates a small geofence of about 20 feet. Anytime the paired phone leaves that geofenced zone, it receives a push notification informing notifying the user of the potential danger the child is in. If the notification goes unanswered for five minutes, the app automatically reaches out to an emergency contact and informs them of the situation.
The Kickstarter campaign runs for another 11 days (and ends on September 5th), but thus far hasn’t even reached half of its $15,000 goal. The retail price for the finished product hasn’t been revealed yet, but backers who pledge $40 or more will receive one. The shipping date indicated is expected to be December 2014.
You can back the campaign over on Kickstarter.
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So…. This is for people who are irresponsible enough to leave an unattended child in the car, but responsible enough to buy a BlueTooth gadget to alarm them… Ok… As a father of two, this guy sees it as no surprise this hasn’t reached its funding goal. *HEAD-SLAP* #IDIOTIC
It will reach its goal I bet.
As a father of two I agree that it’s idiotic that people can “forget” their child is in the car. At the same time people do it all the time and as stupid as these people are, I would love to see this not on the shelves as a stand alone product but a safety standard that car seat manufacturers build in. This way there really is no excuse for leaving a child in a car.
There’s already no excuse. You can’t engineer around stupidity. Really.
Not only can you NOT engineer around stupidity….you SHOULD not.
Let me explain how that plays out in the real world:
1. False alarms go off constantly
2. Law enforcement called.
3. They don’t like the “look” of you.
4. CPS called, kids taken. No judge, no jury.
5. You become 1 of 17,000 reported cases of fraudulent CPS activity every year.
@PMZanetti
In the real world, CPS does not work like that. They don’t remove children from their home in cases of temporary lapses of judgment or forgetfulness, and they would need a court order from a judge in order to remove the children from your care in the first place. You would then have a hearing(again, with a judge) to determine whether removing the kids from the home is really in their best interest, and if not, to determine whether there are any suitable guardians within their social or familial circles who could take on their children until they can return to their home.
By spreading baseless FUD about CPS, you are doing a huge disservice to children, as people will be less likely to contact CPS over less severe infractions for fear that they’re only interested in taking children away from their homes, which in actually is very rare. In the vast majority of cases, CPS will work with the parents to create a “safety plan”, which typically involves educating the parents and helping them find any help they may need to ensure their children are safe and well-cared for at home.
I’d like to point you to the research on the matter:
“What kind of person forgets a baby?
The wealthy do, it turns out. And the poor, and the middle class. Parents of all ages and ethnicities do it. Mothers are just as likely to do it as fathers. It happens to the chronically absent-minded and to the fanatically organized, to the college-educated and to the marginally literate. In the last 10 years, it has happened to a dentist. A postal clerk. A social worker. A police officer. An accountant. A soldier. A paralegal. An electrician. A Protestant clergyman. A rabbinical student. A nurse. A construction worker. An assistant principal. It happened to a mental health counselor, a college professor and a pizza chef. It happened to a pediatrician. It happened to a rocket scientist.
Last year it happened three times in one day, the worst day so far in the worst year so far in a phenomenon that gives no sign of abating.” – Gene Weingarten http://wapo.st/1sqIYMg
Unfortunately even geniuses aren’t capable of making the best decisions for their child 100 percent of the time. And I’m talking real geniuses, not the so-called ones at the computer store.
Before assuming everyone who has done this is an irresponsible idiot, why not do some research on it? You will find this tragedy has befallen all types of members of society.
I think this is a very good idea and would be interested in buying one if I had children of that age. I could see the technology being built into car seats.
Yes, it seems silly that parents would forget about their children. But they do.
Why not use technology to protect the kids?
I am against technology being forced upon people – such as back-up cameras.
It’s just another excuse for people to continue being irresponsible and stupid. The kind of people who shouldn’t be breeding in the first place. Nip it in the bud.
I agree but you can’t legislate or I gadget your way out of stupidity.
Maybe the starfish emits enough EMI to sterilize the little ones.
Should be EMF.
Get off your high horse. Do you even have kids? If you did you would think this has potential to save a child if the parent with them became incapacitated in an accident or something. Shut up and stop assuming this is a “toy” to let parents abandon their children. Asshole.
While I completely agree this “should’t be needed” that stats show it is, I believe technology can help.
Great comment, scumbag. Very witty. Good job advancing the discussion by reading just one post. Maybe reading is hard for you?
I hope you don’t have any children.
More stupidity…by stupid, for stupid. Technology is great, but not when it is used in place of proper education.
Some things we just SHOULDN’T have. Regardless of whether or not is possible to make them.
In response to all who suggest that only stupid people forget their children are in the car, I suggest reading this article:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/fatal-distraction-forgetting-a-child-in-thebackseat-of-a-car-is-a-horrifying-mistake-is-it-a-crime/2014/06/16/8ae0fe3a-f580-11e3-a3a5-42be35962a52_story.html
“Two decades ago, this was relatively rare. But in the early 1990s, car-safety experts declared that passenger-side front airbags could kill children, and they recommended that child seats be moved to the back of the car; then, for even more safety for the very young, that the baby seats be pivoted to face the rear. If few foresaw the tragic consequence of the lessened visibility of the child . . . well, who can blame them? What kind of person forgets a baby?
“The wealthy do, it turns out. And the poor, and the middle class. Parents of all ages and ethnicities do it. Mothers are just as likely to do it as fathers. It happens to the chronically absent-minded and to the fanatically organized, to the college-educated and to the marginally literate. In the last 10 years, it has happened to a dentist. A postal clerk. A social worker. A police officer. An accountant. A soldier. A paralegal. An electrician. A Protestant clergyman. A rabbinical student. A nurse. A construction worker. An assistant principal. It happened to a mental health counselor, a college professor and a pizza chef. It happened to a pediatrician. It happened to a rocket scientist.”
Most of your comments are retarded. Yes, there is no excuse for a parent to leave a child in the car, but it does happen. This is a great idea to save the lives of children. It’s better to be safe than sorry when it comes to the life of a helpless child.
Problem is the kind of people who would leave a child in a car……….. Would probably not think to buy one of these!
As an industrial designer that focuses on user centred design I think the only merit to this product is to warn a backup carer in case the parent in charge is incapacitated. Might help alleviate the nerves of mothers who let older grand parents look after kids.
I doubt that it will get funded along the bike helmet model. I.e only approx. 40 % of people (the uk) wear a bike helmet presumably as ‘won’t happen to them’.
People who buy this kind of product are likely to be very cautious and risk averse.
As a parent of a 3.5 year old, and a five month old I have never even come close to leaving a child in a car, but then I don’t smoke that much crack ;0)
By the way, LOTS of people here need to chill the hell out!
Calling someone names when their opinion is different to yours …,,….,just………..makes you ……..look………..like………..an ………….angry…………..little…………..boy!!!!
People are making ENORMOUS assumptions about “what kind of person” would use or need this. Loving, responsible parents put their kids in the back seat (because it’s the safest place in an accident). The kid goes quiet, the parent goes to the grocery store, and you have tragic mistake.
It’s truly not about being cautious or careless, smart or stupid, responsible vs. irresponsible. It’s like saying “what kind of horrible person leaves the iron on”. Everyone, apparently.