Leave it to a new parent (who’s also a techie) to figure out a way to get more sleep for him and his baby.
CEO and founder Assaf Glazer came up with the idea for Nanit, a smart baby monitor that uses machine learning, after his first child was born. He had been studying machine learning and computer vision and “thought it would be cool” to apply a computer vision algorithm on his baby.
“By using the most advanced and secure camera technology ever introduced to the home, Nanit tracks and understands sleep patterns, parent visits and room conditions,” said Glazer. “This helps babies — and their parents — get more, better sleep.”
Using Nanit, parents get a bird’s eye view of their baby as well as an insightful dashboard and short clips of his or her night’s sleep if they use the accompanying software. Those without kids might not understand the need — or desire — to watch a video of an infant’s sleep, but these videos can provide key insights into sleep patterns and ultimately make sleep training go more smoothly.
“I worked with an expert on sleep science to develop the sleep scoring algorithm, and through the process, I realized that the insights helped me make better decisions as a parent,” he said. “I knew this was something I could bring to market to help other parents.”
Glazer attended the Jacobs Technion-Cornell Institute at Cornell Tech as a Postdoc student in the Runway Startup program, where he had access to the resources needed to develop and launch Nanit as a consumer-facing product.
The Nanit Insights dashboard is a key part of the product, as it provides parents with an "Intelligent Sleep Guru" that gives them access to sleep scores, day and night time-lapse summaries, sleep tips and a stored video history. Over time, it also begins to learn how your baby moves, and tells you if they’re fussy, awake or sleeping.
“We’re the first camera on the market that measures human behavior, and we’re developing our technology faster and cheaper than any other camera on the market,” said Glazer.
Image via featured company.
Know more companies that deserve coverage? Let us know or tweet us @builtinnewyork.
