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Yea or Nay? A Self-Propelled, "Intelligent" Baby Stroller

Parents, would you trust this thing?

By Rain Noe - February 12, 2016

in Tech

This is one of those concept designs that I find horrific, yet I realize it is the target market's estimation that counts more than mine. And as a non-parent I am not the target market. Before I say any more to prejudice you, have a look at this thing:

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Now as to why I find the concept repellent:

When the weather's nice in NYC, it's not uncommon to see a lone parent running with a stroller, particularly along the bike path bordering Battery Park City. Every time I see it I smile; I think it's awesome that the parent is getting their exercise and bringing their baby along for the experience, and I imagine one of that baby's earliest memories will be whizzing along the boardwalk with their mother or father pushing them.

And even if the baby isn't cognizant that they're being pushed, I can't help but feel that that pushing is the key part of the connection. The baby is propelled along by the parent who is physically connected to the stroller, and they both move together.

The idea that this would be accomplished via Bluetooth and a motor seems it would break the bond. Also, the notion that a parent would entrust the safety of their child to a bunch of wires and invisible waves seems crazy to me.

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I do appreciate that this object would lessen the physical load on the parent. You only need to watch one lone mother struggle up a subway staircase while carrying a stroller to realize how demanding urban parenting is. However, and this is the most damning part to me, using a smartphone alarm to remind you not to wander too far from your baby is, I think, lessening the wrong load. I would think any responsible parent would have an internal, mental alarm for such a thing. Instead of staring down at your phone, oughtn't ones eyes be in the vicinity of one's baby at all times?

I'm curious for feedback from actual parents, particularly parents who exercise with their child in tow. Am I underestimating the physical demands you face, or overestimating the importance of the physical and spiritual connection?

The Smartbe Intelligent Stroller, as it's called, is up for funding on IndieGogo. At press time the $399 object had garnered $58,751 towards an $80,000 goal, with six days left to pledge.

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Sascha Marbury

8 years ago

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If you look at how those sideways e-skateboard things have jumped the shark this year, maybe this isn't too far off the zeitgeist. Also, I bet there are uber-wealthy people who would love to hoverboard behind one of these while taking selfies.

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Fraser Pyke

8 years ago

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There are "intelligent" golf carts that can follow you around the course carrying your clubs. I've seen these carts follow the golfer into a sand dune where they get stuck, or tip over. It's a result of the user being to absent minded to switch off the follow function when they go into an area the cart cant follow. I can imagine plenty of scenarios where the absent minded parent gets caught out too.
For example the instinct lunge to pull the baby and stroller out of the path of danger would send it accelerating into trouble.

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- Rain Noe
  
  Fraser Pyke
  
  8 years ago
  
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  Fraser, you nailed it with that last sentence! Totally hadn't thought of that.
  
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  - Long Pan
    
    Rain Noe
    
    8 years ago
    
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    Issues likes this are the exact reason that drives technology more and more complex.
    
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kevin K

8 years ago

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I don't know about the emotional/physical bond... The major issue for me is the fact that it is probably vaporware.

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- Jonathan Mello
  
  kevin K
  
  8 years ago
  
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  totally agree. a more reasonable goal to bring this to market is more on the order of a couple million. The tooling alone for just a few of the parts would blow the goal out of the water, not to mention salaries etc.
  
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Bryce Moulton

8 years ago

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What I can't figure out is what happens when you turn a corner? Say you are jogging along a sidewalk and get to an intersection where you turn right. The stroller is in front of you, so has no way to anticipate your turn. Does it just sail off into the intersection, and then stop because it has lost it's tether signal? Or does it quickly turn and attempt to overtake you to get in front again? The only way I can see it work is if you input a route into the stroller first, but that sadly would take the spontaneity out of the run.
Also, what about obstacles? Again, it's in front of you, so a post or pedestrian could easily get in the way when there's not a lot of time or space to maneuver. I didn't see anything in there about object detection.

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James Gilchrist

8 years ago

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Would like to see how it handles kerbs!

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Thom Doyle

8 years ago

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This seems like an investment scheme. Super flashy video, but I can't see any reasonable way that they're going to pack all those features into a stroller. Some of the other comments say it perfectly. A product that does everything they claim it will cannot be developed for $80k.

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Steven Martens

8 years ago

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Interesting technology, I don't think it's thought thru enough. It doesn't seem to be mature enough as an idea yet.

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Gary Merrington

8 years ago

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Nay - as a parent this is crazy, keep your hands on the push chair/stroller at all times!

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Gerard Thomas

8 years ago

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Fail.

If you are too lazy to push a 'proper' jogging stroller, you're either too lazy to jog or too lazy to actually have kids... maybe both.

My mind boggles when I see this sort of 'stuff'. Where in the process has the simple question of whether or not a sane parent would trust the safety of their child to a 'intelligent' stroller not come up? I don't know a single parent, myself included, who'd trust something like this.

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Francisco Hernandez

8 years ago

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They have 8 models. With all the bells and whistles........$3200. Speechless. You can pledge $25 to get a baby bottle.

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Sean Horita

8 years ago

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Nay.

Its not a jogging stroller. Joggers typically have three wheels for better stability, and in a larger wheel diameter, and longer wheelbase. Slick ID and nice video though. I feel sorry for the people who fund this.

Its actually not that hard to jog with a good stroller - you can kind of let it go for periods and course correct periodically. For a stroller to have a motor capable of a normal jogging speed, there would likely be a top speed that could get away from a parent quickly in case of malfunction.

Anyway, doesn't something like this have to get through the JPMA group before it could be sold (at least in the US)?

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Francisco Hernandez

8 years ago

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Tend to agree. Seems like we keep making more and more "intelligent" devices to make dumber individuals.
How annoying would it be to take out your phone, wake it up, open the stroller app, select the canopy function, and press the close/open button. 5 steps versus open/close manually, especially if you are next to your child (i hope).
They forgot to add a sensor to detect wet diapers and a speaker so you can hear the baby crying when you are 20 feet away chatting with your friends.
Why not just enjoy the moment. A self propelled stroller would be great but when you add all the other smartness it becomes gimmicky.
$350 and 80K to fund raise? Something sounds way off.

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- Rain Noe
  
  Francisco Hernandez
  
  8 years ago
  
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  All excellent points. The more I think about it, the more this project kind of sounds like something somebody thought up in a bar. Or like someone trying to wantonly apply technology to life rather than starting with a problem and figuring out how to solve it.
  
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- Sean Horita
  
  Francisco Hernandez
  
  8 years ago
  
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  Way off indeed. How will they use $80K? To develop something like this, $80k seems a very low-ball estimate.
  
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  - Christopher Bray
    
    Sean Horita
    
    8 years ago
    
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    1Z
    
    Yeah $80k seems way low considering all of the tooling they will need to invest in.
    
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