My ideas for Responsive Environments coursework.

1. BRIEF 2
“It’s Not Supposed
to do That”
Project: Baby Soother

2. Light & Sound
I am most interested in using LIGHT
and SOUND in my project

3. My aim is to turn a plain boring toy into
something more functional, exciting and inspiring
by applying electronics!

4. I am going to use a soft toy because they have
no function other than being a comfort for
children – I want to expand on this by giving
them more useful functionality.

5. I am currently reading this book by Tom Igoe.
There are extensive projects inside showing you how to
implement electronics into soft toys, essentially
bringing them to life, giving them character and
purpose.

6. Research has shown that the sounds of the
womb can help newborn babies to relax
and sleep better as it reminds them of the
comfortable safe environment they lived in
for 9 months.

7. The sound of the mother’s heartbeat is
also part of the womb environment.

8. So I want to create a sound reactive
baby soother which will play womb
sounds whenever the baby cries

9. There are several toys on the market with
similar functions but none of them have a
sound reactive sensor, you have to
physically push a button or squeeze them
to activate lights/sounds.

10. I will need to use a microphone sensor to
pick up the sounds of the baby crying. The
Arduino forum suggests these electret mics
are great for picking up voices.

11. A Waveshield is needed to place on top of the
Arduino – this will read the SD card and play the
sounds of womb/heartbeat music through a
small speaker. Volume can be controlled with
the onboard potentiometer.

12. Babies love glow worms because they
generate a cozy warm light which makes
them feel safe and at ease

13. I also want my toy to have glowing
LEDs which pulse at the same time
as the heartbeat sounds