Croatian startup is developing solutions which will increase safety of children.
Matija Srbić, head of the Juvo Home Friend startup team, came to the idea for a system that they have designed after seeing a video on accidents of children at home, reports Poslovni.hr on January 7, 2017.
After research and checking statistics, it turned out that many such accidents happened, and that just in the United States there are several million children who are every year injured in such accidents. He therefore decided to develop a product that will help parents in their stressful everyday life.
Juvo – Home Friend is a system which consists of smart sensors that parents set at the ceiling in front of the less secure parts of their homes, such as the kitchen, bathroom, balconies, bookshelves. The system also includes stuffed animals which, with their singing or recorded voice of parents, draw children’s attention and a mobile application for system management and receiving notifications about any unplanned movements of the child.
Parents can choose themselves where to put the sensors which will monitor whether there are movements below. When the system notices movement, it makes a security assessment based on the height of the person, detecting whether it is a child or not. If it is a child, it sends a notice to parents through the mobile application or through a smart bracelets/watch. At the same time, it activates a soft toy with a speaker, which is in the room with the child and starts singing or talking with a recorded voice of the parent, so that child attention is drawn for a few moments until the parent appears.
“What makes our sensors stand out is the ability to recognize children and react only to their movements. The product development is continuing. We expect a finished prototype in late January, and then we will launch a crowdfunding campaign”, says team leader Matija Srbić. His startup team is made of five enthusiasts, Igor Armuš, Sara Bajlo, Stanko Krtalić Rusendić, Ivor Turčin, and Viktor Viljevac. They are currently part of HUB385 and Spock startup incubators.
Since their target market is the United States, they are also considering joining one of the entrepreneurship accelerators there. “Once we enter the market, we have many ideas for new products which will facilitate daily life. The main advantage of this product is the user experience. We want to develop a product that would be simple to install in any home, be reliable and unobtrusive, and react and inform parents only when it is really necessary”, says Srbić.
