Control TV even in your SLEEP with KipstR wristband

Go Green Updated: December 3, 2022 By Vikram Singh Rao

Two teenage students from Manchester have created a smart wristband called KipstR wristband that pauses or records television shows when it detects a person is sleeping and could be used to power other devices around the home to save households energy and money .

The 3D printed KipstR wristband knows when its wearer is snoozing and can pause, then record, what’s on the telly at that time so it can be watched later.When the wristband detects the wearer has woken up, it can trigger the TiVo to resume the programme.

Ryan Oliver, 15, and Jonathan Kingsley, 14, created this wristband in partnership with Virgin Media, and this new sleep-savvy tech was developed as part of the company’s new ‘Switched on Futures’ initiative.

“We have been exploring the possibilities of connected entertainment for some time and are very excited to unveil KipstR,” said Neil Illingworth, head of advanced technology and innovation at Virgin Media. “With emerging new technologies, it is possible to create almost anything, such as emotionally intelligent entertainment systems that can suggest shows based on your moods, or even harnessing brainwaves to control your television.”

kipstR wristband feature — The band features a pulse oximeter, and a wireless sensor which means it can ‘talk’ to a Virgin Media TiVo box. Pulse oximetry is used to measure oxygen levels, or saturation in the blood. *source: dailymail.co.uk, Mark waugh*

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How KipstR wristband control TV?

KipstR measures a user’s heart rate to detect sleep before communicating with TiVo to pause and record the current programme being viewed.
When the user’s heart rate rises to ‘awake’ levels it can trigger Virgin Media’s TiVo boxes to resume the programme.
The current KipstR prototype features using a spark core chip, pulse-oximeter, push button, sleep mode indicator and a small LiPo battery.
The spark core chip at the heart of KipstR processes all the data from the pulse-oximeter, dictating when the band triggers TiVo to record, pause or re-play.
Wearable technologies such as KipstR could also be used to monitor wearer’s emotional reactions to their TV viewing, helping TiVo learn & tag programmes that evoke the strongest responses from the wearer.