Parents are rightly concerned about their newborns’ health. According to the latest CDC statistics, in 2015 there were 3,700 sudden unexpected infant deaths (SUIDs) including sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS, 1,600), unknown causes (1,200), and accidental suffocation and strangulation (900). Parents also pay a health toll in sleep loss from vigilance with newborns. According to Medical News Today, parents have a six-month sleep deficit in the first 24 months of a child’s life.
Ray is a Bangalore-based startup backed by Johnson & Johnson and the HAX Accelerator Joint Consumer Health Device program. Ray has launched Raybaby, a non-contact, continuous monitoring sleep tracker. Raybaby is a video monitor and motion sensor best placed on a shelf or furniture faced toward the sleeping baby. The device tracks respiratory rate with reported 98.3 percent accuracy using ultra-wideband (UWB) radar. It also tracks motion and sleep cycles, creating a health journal for doctors. Respiration and motion are displayed in a smartphone app that alerts parents if it detects sleep irregularities or respiratory difficulties. In addition to informing parents how much a baby has slept, the app also recommends how much the baby needs to sleep based on REM requirements. The Raybaby has built-in speakers and a microphone to record sounds. Parents can create a collage of images and videos with the Raybaby’s integrated, low-light video camera.
After an upcoming company move to San Francisco in February, Raybaby is scheduled to begin mass production in August and start shipping in September. The Kickstarter campaign exceeded its $50,000 goal within days of its January 31, 2017, start and runs until March 30.
