To prevent suffocation caused by prone sleep, South Korean researchers have developed a vest-type wearable airbag system with six pressure sensors built into the chest, back and side to detect movements in real time. If the baby lies prone, a pressure sensor in the chest will detect it and activate the airbag, while an alarm will sound on the guardian's smartphone through a Bluetooth communication module.
The Korea Institute of Industrial Technology (KITECH) has developed the system jointly with two companies -- Safeware, a wearable airbag maker, and Amano Korea which provides system technology. Airbags filled with carbon dioxide have no gunpowder content, so there is no risk of burns, and are designed to swell slowly to reduce the impact on the baby's chest.
"It will be available not only for families raising infants but also for hospital neonatal rooms and daycare centers," said KITECH researcher Choi Sung-hwan. Products would be available next year after the institute transferred technologies.