Knit Health launches crowdfunding campaign for smart baby monitor

Baby monitors have been around for a while, but Knit Health wants to level them up with a smart camera that detects your child’s breathing. The San Francisco company is starting a crowdfunding campaign today to raise money for the product.

With the rise of the Internet of Things, everyday objects are becoming smart and connected. Baby monitors are one more thing to add to the list, and they can give parents the peace of mind to help them sleep better.

With Knit Health, you place the high-definition video camera near a child’s bed to track breathing, sleep, and growth. The Knit app will help parents understand a child’s trends over time. Each morning, Knit creates a video that summarizes the night’s events with video clips. It can even signal any signs of a cold.

“We want to help families take control of their sleep routines and health at home,” the company said. “We started with sleep because we know how it directly impacts health and development — from growth to attention span to the immune system. And getting a good night’s sleep makes the whole family happy.”

The device measures sleep to provide parents with a record of how easily the child falls asleep and what times the child awoke. It also creates seven-day trends to deliver a big-picture view. Parents can receive alerts when the child needs attention, due to crying or room conditions. With a single tap, the parent can check on the app to see how the child is breathing, or even if the baby is swaddled or under blankets.

The camera weighs half a pound and attaches securely to a wall with an adhesive strip. The closed network is secure from hackers.

Knit Health has been working on the prototype for 18 months, and it has been testing the device in parents’ homes for six months.

The three founders include CEO David Janssens; chief operating officer Paul Silberschatz; and Evan Shapiro, chief technology officer. All three of them spent a decade at product design firm Ideo. Early investors include Ideo, which helped with the camera design, as well as Bolt; Joi Ito (director of the MIT Media Lab); entrepreneur Ben Keighran; and Dan Bomze, founder of MileIQ.

Rivals include Nanit, Invidyo, and Nest. Knit Health is targeting parents with kids from infant to 10 years old. Knit Health is based on “deep learning” technology, and it can easily recognize the difference between a doll and a baby. It can also tell if a baby is in REM sleep, or if someone has asthma or sleep apnea.

Knit Health has eight employees, and it works with a number of outside companies, including Emotion Studios, Substantial, and Ideo. Knit Health plans to raise $100,000 in the crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter.