Smart pajamas read your kids a bedtime story
Get ready to scan your children. The timeless onesie's getting a digital upgrade with a set of jammies that link to stories and lullabies on a smart device.
- Third place film critic, 2021 LA Press Club National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Awards
Technology has tiptoed into kids' pajamas with onesies covered in QR codes that link to bedtime stories.
"It's time for bed, Tommy. Brush your teeth, put on your PJs, and let's scan you."
Smart PJs, called the world's "first and only interactive pajamas," require downloading a free app for iOS or Android and scanning one of dozens of codes from the Smart PJs with a smartphone or tablet. The device then reads aloud a story, sings a lullaby, or broadcasts pictures of animals or other bedtime-appropriate cuteness.
"We purposely created Smart PJ's with the scannable dot patterns all over them so that parents can help the child scan the stories on their backs where they can't reach," Smart PJs founder Juan Murdoch told told Tech Cocktail. "We also put words to all the stories and animal information on the screen so that parents can turn off the volume and help the child learn to read the stories and words themselves."
Murdoch, an Idaho Falls, Idaho, real estate agent and father of six, just got honored at an an event showcasing Boise-area startups, where his company was named Hottest Showcasing Startup.
The smart jammies join a number of other QR-coded clothes on the market, including T-shirts that link back to the wearer's social-networking profiles. The $25 cotton PJs come in four sizes for boys and girls.
"Now your child will be excited to go to bed," says a promotional video for the product. One potential hitch: all those studies suggesting that staring into gadget screens at night can disrupt sleep patterns.
Also, we really need to know these innocent little onesies won't start serving up ads for Barbies and Legos in the middle of "Winnie the Pooh."