Application Update

Nintendo wants to build a sleep monitor with a projector

Nintendo first announced its intention to develop a sleep monitor as part of its "quality of life" initiative in 2014. Now, thanks to a recently published patent unearthed by NeoGAF forum members, we have an idea of what the system could look like. The gamemaker is apparently planning to build a sensor-laden alarm clock-like gadget that's equipped with a projector. Since the documents are mostly in Japanese, we only have their summaries and the device's illustration to go by, which you can see below the fold.


It's unclear at this point if the sleep monitor is a two-device system, or if it's just the dock and the handset-like drawing is merely the user's smartphone. Either way, Nintendo's tracker will be equipped with sensors, microphone and a camera that will keep track of the user's temperature and pulse rate, among other things. It will then use the data it collects to assess a user's emotional state and calculate his/her "sleep score" -- the person's stats and results will be projected on the wall or the ceiling. Some people will undoubtedly find all those sensors a bit too intrusive (perhaps even creepy), but this is just a patent anyway. We'll know the monitor's features for sure when Nintendo releases it, which according to IGN could be sometime in 2016.