health

The teddy bear that could save your child's life

Meet Teddy The Guardian. He's cute and cuddly and could one day save your baby's life.

Or completely creep you out.

This sophisticated toy is filled with sensors that track the vital signs of the child with him at the time. But don't worry mums. You don't suddenly have to monitor you child's vital signs, aside from the obvious happy, eating, playing, breathing ones most mums look out for. Teddy The Guardian is designed as a tool for pediatricians and medical staff to have a history of readings on a child to make better diagnoses at times of illness.

The toy is the invention of two young Croatian entrepreneurs, Josipa Majic and Ana Burica, both 23. Both are both graduate students at the University of Zagreb, Croatia.

Teddy The Guardian measures:

  • Heart rate
  • Oxygen saturation
  • Body temperature
  • Stress levels

He also comes with a smart phone app to personalise him so your child is more likely to love and adore him. Teddy The Bear can be programed to play your child's favourite song. "Children have very high criteria of what they consider fun,” Ms. Maji? told The Guardian. “We had to add technology and machine learning to make the teddy bear more personalized, and make it more attractive.”

Guardian Medical Teddy Bear

Teddy The Guardian takes all his measurements during normal play. It's pretty impressive actually. It uses wireless date technologies to capture the information that can be accessed when needed.

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Can it dress them and bathe our children too?

One of the most extraordinary abilities of this 'toy' is to measure a child's emotional state. It can pick up information on behavioural and emotional issues well before they become a problem.

The product made it's first appearance at the TechCrunch Disrupt show in Berlin, Germany and has quickly become the most talked about invention from the show.  Ms Maji? says, “It helps nurses to get data in a way that is friendly for the child so the data does not get skewed by the child being stressed.”

And while Teddy The Bear is designed for medical practitioners, there is incredible demand from parents, particularly first-time parents who are desperate to know their children are okay. Pre-orders have been streaming in since July.

Teddy The Bear is washable and could become a key piece of equipment used in hospitals around the world. But it will be a while until he goes into commercial production, as the inventors are still raising the funds to mass produce the already popular toy/device.

What do you think of Teddy The Bear? Brilliant or a breeder of paranoia?