New iPhone app claims to translate your baby's cries
Technology and parenting isn’t a new marriage.
We all remember that Simpsons episode, where Homer’s half-brother brother, Herb, develops the Baby Translator with Maggie to decipher a baby’s cries.
It was a cartoon and, as expected, fantasy. But was it so far off?
Spanish researchers have developed an iPhone app that claims to be able to translate a baby’s cries, bringing Herb’s dream to an apparent reality.
According to the U.K.’s Sun newspaper, the new $29.99 app can tell parents “instantly” what their child’s wails really mean.
The app works similar to the popular Shazam download you might’ve seen on Apple’s commercials, which uses the phone’s mic to identify what song is playing over any set of speakers.
Paediatricians discovered infants have five distinct universal cries – regardless of language, says the Sun – that tell whether a baby is hungry, annoyed, tired, stressed or bored.
The “Cry Translator,” which aims to identify the mood of your child based on its cry, claims a pretty impressive 96 per cent accuracy rate, if you believe the developers.
But a 1.5 star rating (out of 5) at the App Store might sound some alarms, and user reviews on the product’s download page don’t appear flattering.
“This app is junk,” writes one reviewer. “It randomly puts up a (sic) issue with your baby. My son had all of the symptoms in one tantrum. Don’t waste the (money).”
Even if the app were to work flawlessly, this seems to be another instance of the gift and curse of technology. While it would be a convenience to overwhelmed parents, it’s likely to make them too reliant on technology.
“Learning to interpret cries is part of the bonding process” between you and your child, says Siobhan Freegard, a parenting expert on the site Netmums.com.
“(It) forms the foundation for good communication.”
By Jason Buckland, MSN Money
Posted by: Terry Ibey | Jan 22, 2022 11:30:45 AM
I believe if you need a phone to tell you what your baby wants you should not be a parent
Posted by: Leo Wagorn | Jan 22, 2022 3:42:28 PM
You see there is something here that I am sure a lot of people are missing. The app is probably not meant to me the "3rd" parent, it is designed to be used in good humour and fun. To use this program in your daily life as a means to decipher your child's wants and needs is close to the most pathetic thing one could ever do. Another quick $30 dollar cash grab from a developer whom is prehaps laughing all the way to the bank.
Posted by: kz | Jan 22, 2022 4:20:10 PM
(Lets say this app works perfectly well) This idea will reinforce babies' "bad" behaviours aka crying "for no good reason." Once the child understands that you perfectly understand the meaning of their wails and yells, the child will not see the need to adopt speech. I believe the necessity to survive and be understood is one of the reasons why kids learn to stop crying for the gift of coherent speech. I like the idea, but I feel it is (if it works out perfectly fine) going to breed a bunch of maladaptive kids..Just my thought!!
Posted by: Lisa | Jan 28, 2022 1:58:15 PM
We have survived thousands of years without this app, so I think we will be ok in figuring out a child for a year. give or take.
Posted by: haslkfh;ao;af | Feb 8, 2022 9:00:46 PM
HEYYYY SEXXIESSS!!! I think that you shouldnt need to useaphone to figure out what a child wants. Beinga parent is about notbeing perfect at everything...