THEY reach for smartphones from birth, tap all screens
expectantly, and researchers say it’s impossible to limit them to two hours of
screen time per day.
The new
generation of Australian children is growing up with technology and now it seems
technology is growing with them, creeping into everyday items you would find in
a nursery.
From fully featured, app-friendly, night-vision
baby monitors to wearable technology that monitors a baby’s sleep patterns and
uploads measurements to the cloud, child technology is advancing well past
infancy.
Walk in the park ... Britax’s E-Brake stroller lets parents charge smartphones on the go.
Now the
Australian arm of one prominent childcare brand has launched a hi-tech,
safety-focused product that could change the ways babies get around.
The Melbourne
office of international firm Britax has created a stroller with automatic
brakes that trigger when the user lifts their hand off its handle.
Britax service
manager Joe Care says the company spent four years developing the E-Brake
stroller after being inspired by the tragic pram deaths of two South Australian
infants in 2010.
The Federal
Government introduced new mandatory standards following the incidents, adding a
tether strap for wrists and a parking brake to all prams and strollers.
Safety station ... Nareena Bloomfield and her twin babies Rose and Laurel, 13 months, test out the new Britax E-Brake stroller.
Mr Care
says Britax wanted to increase pram safety further and could not find a
technological solution in the market.
“We tried to
Google anything like it and we couldn’t find anything,” Mr Care says.
“So we started
with our idea and thought we’d just get this one out into the market and talk
about a large rollout from there.”
The resulting
Britax E-Brake stroller features the body of a Steelcraft Strider with technological
additions to its handle, rear wheels, and undercarriage.
The stroller’s
covered steel handle is sensitive to the touch. Grip the handle, and you can
push it forwards. Remove your hands and the brakes trigger automatically,
freezing the back wheels.
In practice, the
brakes kick in after just a second’s delay, halting the stroller even on a
slope.
Screen to go ... The Britax stroller features an LCD screen with weather, distance and braking details.
The
automatic brake also triggers a red and green indicator, and a ‘stop’ icon on
its LCD screen.
In addition to
safety features, the stroller’s LCD screen features a speedometer, temperature
gauge, battery indicator, and estimates for distance travelled and calories
burned pushing the stroller.
Its 2000Ah
battery, which powers automatic braking for up to 10 days, can also be used to
charge a smartphone in its undercarriage, with a USB port on its side.
Despite the
convenient additions, Britax Queensland manager Graham Cox says its main goal
is to increase child safety, and its creators road-tested it with 20 families
over 18 months before its release this month.
“The people who
tested it for us didn’t want to stop using it because they got used to it,” Mr
Cox says.
The Australian
made, globally patented technology cannot be added to other strollers
retrospectively, but Mr Cox says automatic braking will be introduced to future
Britax prams.
“This is the
first of a new generation of strollers,” he says. “This will be just the start
of it.”
Top five baby technologies
1. Britax E-Brake ($949): Stroller with touch-sensitive, automatic braking and phone
charging
2. 4Moms Origami ($1000): Stroller with one-button folding and
phone charging
3. Withings Smart Kid Scale
($228): A
wi-fi scale with a moulded top for infants that measures children’s weight up
to 25kg
4. Monbaby Smart Monitor
($US169): This
button-shaped device attaches to a baby’s clothing and monitors a baby’s
breathing, movement, and position during sleep
5. CTA Digital iPotty ($US40): This controversial creation teams a
plastic potty with an Apple iPad dock and can be converted into a seat
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