In an effort to help expecting fathers feel more involved in the pregnancy, a Danish tech company has developed a smart bracelet that lets them feel the kicks and movements of their unborn children in real time.
Fibo is the newest development in wearable technology. It looks like a cross between a fitness tracker and a smart watch, but its purpose is completely different. By pairing it with a patch -like baby kick monitoring device worn by the mother on her belly, Fibo can accurately imitate the movements of the fetus right after they occur. The bracelet features rotating beads that create a natural movement, rather than the usual sharp, unrealistic vibration that most notification devices rely on.
“Many fathers we spoke to said they first realized they were bringing a new life into the world when they heard their baby’s heartbeat for the first time. We want this feeling to last longer,” Sandra Pétursdóttir, of First Bond Wearables, the company behind Fibo, told the Huffington Post.
“Fathers sometimes tend to get a little left out when the mother is going through all the changes with her body and feeling a little life growing in her belly,” Pétursdóttir added, so her company decided to come up with a piece of wearable tech to make them feel more involved. Yeah, poor us guys, mothers get to walk around with extra weight, feel bloated all the time and go through that “amazing” childbirth thing, and we just get ignored. Sad!
“With Fibo, we are hoping to share the experience of pregnancy,” Pétursdóttir explained. “When the pearls inside the bracelet start rotating, the father will know his baby is kicking or moving without putting his hands on the mother’s belly. He can therefore feel this wherever he goes.” The sharing happens instantly, so the wearer feels the movement in real-time wherever they are.
First Bond Wearables showed off their invention last week, at the Polar Bear Pitching competition, and hope to have it on the market in 2018. No price has been announced yet, but Sandra Pétursdóttir has hinted that they might adopt a renting model as well. People who don’t want to spend a sizeable sum on a device that can only be used in the last trimester of pregnancy, will most likely be able to just rent a Fibo bracelet for just that period.
via The Telegraph