If you use traditional diapers, you often have to open them to know if a baby needs to be changed. Some fancier versions change color when they come into contact with urine, providing a visual aid. But color-changing diapers may soon be obsolete.
Researchers at the University of Tokyo have developed a cheap, flexible sensor that can be placed on a child’s skin as s/he is diapered. It transmits a signal when it becomes wet. Currently it has a transmission range of only a few inches, but lead researchers Takayasu Sakurai and Takao Someya hope to expand that range.
Hey, maybe they could make a diaper that would send a tweet when a child needs to be changed. Or better: an Instagram!
-via Marginal Revolution | Photo: AFP
I can see how such an aid would be useful for a daycare center, though.
Before I had kids, I worried that I wouldn't know when or how often to change diapers. But when I had babies, I found that I was keeping a constant awareness of my kids' diapers.