Babies do love car rides, but what exactly stands behind this fact? According to science, newborns have the ability to hear as early as 16 weeks, so their moms’ body noises such as heartbeats, breaths, eating, talking, and even the sound of their mother’s steps are common to them. Hence, babies are comforted during a car ride because it reminds them of a familiar environment, the sounds and rocking motion felt inside the womb. It’s no wonder why parents go to great lengths just to calm down their sleepless sweethearts, but when the situation becomes too desperate, adults have one more trick up their sleeves: a car drive around the block.
Ford Motor Company has gone beyond what established it as a trusted brand in the automotive industry and developed a new concept that aims to help parents overcome such issues. The company found a perfect way to give moms and dads a peaceful moment and a chance for a restful night by inventing a baby cot called the Motor Max Dreams.
It is noteworthy that the invention, made with the help of Espada y Santa Cruz Spanish design studio and Ogilvy and Mather, exempts parents from taking multiple neighborhood shifts in order for the family’s junior members to get a good night’s sleep.
The automaker’s new concept simulates specific aspects of a car journey like engine sound, soft movement by imitating the vehicle’s trajectory. To perfect the experience it also uses LEDs that reproduce street lights. By combining these features, the famous automotive brand delivers a humming yet relaxing ‘lullaby’ that helps the newborn fall asleep easier and faster while enabling parents to enjoy a restful night.
This scenario can be safely accomplished even from the comfort of your own home. The new Ford technology requires a smartphone app, which will collect all needed data and store them, in order to simulate a journey similar to a real drive route.
Alejandro López Bravo, the crib’s designer, explained the idea behind this stunning concept: “After many years of talking to mums and dads, we know that parents of newborns are often desperate for just one good night’s sleep.” He further added that although a car ride has the ability to make wonders in getting a baby asleep, the already tired parents need to be very careful and “awake and alert at the wheel.”
The conceptual bed was produced to promote Ford’s Max car line, but unfortunately, the invention is not commercially available yet. At least, this is what Ford lets us know: “For now, the Max Motor Dreams is a one-off pilot,” announced the representatives of the carmaker brand. Despite this statement, and following numerous inquiries, Ford takes producing these cribs on a larger scale into account.
The Max cot design is similar to the SNOO bed, a baby crib produced in collaboration with industrial designer Yves Behar, pediatrician and author of The Happiest Baby on the Block book Harvey Karp, and MIT Media Lab engineers. Just like the Ford bed, the SNOO smart sleeper plays sounds and movements in order to recreate the baby’s familiar environment equivalent to its mother’s womb.
Credits:
Client: FORD
Agency: Ogilvy and Mather Madrid
Design, production & video: Espada y Santa Cruz Studio
Powered by: Raspberry Pi, Python & Dynamixel motors