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Give your fetus a concert with vaginal sound system, Babypod
Some people are born to get down; others are gestated. Spanish gynecology clinic Institut Marquès wants to tap into the fetal-music market with Babypod, a speaker that expecting mothers insert into their vaginas a la tampons to play songs for their unborn babies. Babypod connects to a smartphone and plays music directly in the vagina, which is the only way for a fetus to hear unmuffled sounds, the company says. It's also more stylish than giant headphones wrapped around your belly.
Pumpkin and "baby belly" get the Jonathan Mak Steve Jobs treatment
Photo used with permission of Jorge Cardenas What are the odds of two separate TUAW readers sending in photos of objects emblazoned with Jonathan Mak's now-iconic Apple logo / Steve Jobs silhouette mashup? Apparently pretty good, because not only did we receive a pair of photos, but they came in via email at almost the exact same time. The first, seen above, is from Jorge Cardenas, who did a skilled pumpkin carving of the logo. The second, below, was sent in by Christian Hage. It shows his wife's pregnant belly painted with the logo in black and white. The painting was done by the Hage's artist friend, Kate Johnson. Photo used with permission of Christian Hage
'Mommy Tummy' simulator takes you from normal to pregnant in two minutes (video)
You can test drive a car before buying it, so why not take the same approach to pregnancy? Such is the idea, apparently, behind the "Mommy Tummy" -- a system that gives women (or men) a taste of what it would feel like to have a bun in the oven, even if they haven't received any lovin'. Developed by researchers at Japan's Kanagawa Institute of Technology, this simulator invites users to don a jacket replete with rubber balloons, vibrators, a water bag and other things you'd expect to find in Buffalo Bill's basement. Once strapped on, the jacket's midsection gradually expands as it swells with warm water funneled in from an adjacent tank, resulting in an immaculately conceived baby bump. A compressor, meanwhile, slowly augments the jacket's chest area, while a separate array of balloons rapidly inflate and deflate, thereby mimicking the kicking and side-to-side movements of a real-life fetus. KIRF mothers can monitor their KIRF baby's vital signs on a monitor, though they'll have to pay close attention. Unlike real pregnancies, the Mommy Tummy's gestation period lasts a merciful two minutes, giving your boyfriend just enough time to formulate a coherent response. Must-see video footage after the break. Update: Turns out our bros at Joystiq got some hands-on time with this bundle of joy at TGS. Check it out. [Image courtesy of Toutlecine.com]
Nuvo's Ritmo Advanced Pregnancy Sound System jacks your baby in to your terrible music taste
Nuvo has just released its $130 Ritmo "Advanced Pregnancy Sound System," which is a pregnant belly belt composed of four belly-firing speakers, with a built-in iPod pocket, 3.5mm jack and volume-regulating abilities. You could jack in your phone for a bit of long distance baby conversation, but for the most part you know this belt is going to be inundating your child-to-be with Josh Groban and The Ting Tings. And do you really want that on your conscience? There's video after the break.
Lullabelly prenatal music belt rocks the cradle of love
Hey, you want to start annoying your kids with your crummy taste in tunes before they've even been born? Fine, go for it. The Lullabelly prenatal music belt -- which is like a giant, soft cummerbund with a speaker stuffed into it -- is here to help. Just plug your fave PMP into it and you'll be all set to turn the womb into a super musical fun fest. The speaker has an output of about 60 to 80 decibels, and you can jack in with your earbuds to jam along. Just remember: you're the one with the volume control, and no matter how good the Tran-Siberian Orchestra sounds to you at 11 am, some people would rather listen to Megadeth. This bad boy comes in two slightly different packages, one which will run you $49.99, the other is $59.99[Via Switched]
Two-mic system detects fetal heart rate anomalies, prenatal beat sampling
Patel Institute of Engineering and Technology's A.K. Mittra and associates have devised a clever and inexpensive early warning detection system for monitoring the fetal heart rate of that bun months-long in the oven. With two microphones -- one placed on the pregnant soon-to-be mother's abdomen and one inside the bedroom -- hooked up to a nearby computer, the two audio feeds are used to estimate and subtract the ambient room noise for a better read on the baby's vitals just before the woman goes to bed. Converted to a wav file, if anomalies are detected it's immediately compressed to MP3 and sent to the doctor for further testing. An efficient plan, to be sure, and we can only hope the baby is healthy and hyper-intelligent enough to give normal heartbeats and start recording his or her first LP.
Pregnant robots give birth!
The future is now -- sort of. We were just waiting for robots to start reproducing before we gave over the future of humanity to these beings, and while this might be a mere simulated pregnancy for med students to practice on, it seems close enough to us. The robot, named Noelle, is a life-sized blond mannequin that costs $20,000 and simulates the pertinent vital signs and exports of a pregnant woman, including blood, urine and a baby. Even the baby simulates vital signs, and can change colors from pink to blue to signify oxygen deficiency. A human controller can initiate different complications, or just sit back as the robot runs through its program of baby ejection. The bot is starting to be used med schools and maternity wards across the country, and simpler versions have even seen action in Afghanistan for training.
