Understanding a newborn's feelings can be challenging for first-time parents. Babies communicate through cries, coos, and body language, which can be difficult to interpret. Deciphering these cues can feel overwhelming for new parents, leaving them unsure of how to comfort their distressed baby. But a father in Japan hopes to solve this problem through Artificial Intelligence's (AI) power.
Tomoyuki Hattori founded First Ascent Inc., a startup in the baby tech industry with a mission to "change parenting with technology." He started his business based on his experience of raising his first child.
"One of the most quintessential experiences that led me to start working on a baby tracker app happened after my child was born. Back then, I was so ignorant about childcare that I didn’t even know that I had to sanitize the baby bottles after using them," Hattori told Plug and Play Japan.
Hattori, troubled by childcare stress, had the idea of analyzing emotions from a baby's crying. As a result, he founded First Ascent. Initially, the startup was developing a smartphone app to record childcare-related information. But after hearing people's comments like "My baby won't stop crying, and I don't know what to do," they decided to create a device instead.
Hattori is the man behind ainnene, an all-in-one lamp, white noise generator, and cry translator powered by AI that aims to make life for brand-new parents less stressful.
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"Back then, there were not too many fathers who were actively taking part in parenting in Japan. However, one of the reasons I still decided to carry on my idea was what one of the mothers told me. She said she wasn't sure if the app would be useful or not, but she thought I should give it a try because bringing men's ideas into parenting might be important to change the landscape of childcare," said Hattori.
In the interview, Hattori also acknowledged that his innovation isn't meant to lead to better parenting. He said, "I wouldn't say that providing information using AI will immediately lead to better parenting. The accuracy of the crying analysis itself is improving. We need to make it into a service that can be well utilized in childcare. I hope our AI product will be a good assistant for caregivers, not a substitute."
What is ainenne?
According to its official website, ainenne (pronounced ai-nen-nei) is the world's first baby-friendly bedside lamp with sleep-training capabilities. It was developed through the analysis of baby cry patterns and parenting data.
Rather than using a loud noise to wake the baby, the ainenne uses LED lights to simulate sunlight for a more gentle and natural wake-up call. Moreover, it uses warm light, which is said to be ideal for putting a baby to sleep.
The Japanese company has developed an in-house algorithm for interpreting the crying patterns of babies. This algorithm can be used to determine a baby's emotional state based on their crying. It is based on studies of the crying patterns of over 200,000 babies across 150 countries.
By analyzing your baby's crying pattern, the device will state if your baby is feeling hungry, angry, sleepy, uncomfortable, and bored. Beta testing of CryAnalyzer has shown that ainenne has an accuracy of around 80%.
First Ascent launched the ainenne at CES 2021, where it won an official CES 2021 Innovation Award. General sales of the product began in Japan on July 30, and it costs $400.
Read here for a list of recommended tracking devices for your kids to wear when they're out.
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