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This wearable hits record when you fall asleep watching TV

Narcoleptics rejoice.

 

AJ Dellinger

Tech

Posted on Dec 18, 2014   Updated on May 29, 2021, 11:03 pm CDT

You know when you’re trying to stay awake for the new episode of The Daily Show but your head keeps settling into the couch arm, your eyelids heavily dropping every few seconds? We’ve all been there, but thanks to a couple of British teenagers, you can wear a solution to your unintended slumber right on your wrist.

15-year-old Ryan Oliver and 14-year-old Jonathan Kingsley have created KipstR, a 3D-printed wristband that can sense when the wearer falls asleep and records whatever is on TV while you’re out cold.  

The band uses pulse-oximeter technology to monitors the heart rate of the user and determine when they are asleep or awake. When the blood flow of the wearer changes as they drift off into dreamland, the band pauses and records the program on TV. If the user starts to stir and their heart rate increases, the show starts playing again, picking up right when their eyelids started feeling heavy.

KipstR

The two ingenuitive creators are students at the Manchester Creative Studio and were commissioned by Virgin Media to create the band. KipstR works with Virgin’s TiVo device, essentially serving as an automated remote control.

There’s no word from Virgin on when or if the KipstR may be available to purchase—or to print out one of your own—so for now you’ll just have to put toothpicks in your eyes and try not to fall asleep during Scandal. (Just kidding, no one can fall asleep during Scandal. Olivia Pope for life.)

H/T 3Ders.org | Photo via DieselDemon/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

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*First Published: Dec 18, 2014, 3:16 pm CST