One of the things parents struggle with is reducing the screen time (on TVs, laptops and even smartphones) of their children. Another important parenting litmus test is if you can get kids to watch TV from the recommended viewing distance.
Paras Agarwal, a father, recently recounted how getting his son to do exactly that was proving to be a daily struggle. So he decided to use artificial intelligence, a camera and a red monkey-shaped bubble maker toy to solve the problem.
He explains that his setup takes pictures and detects the boy’s proximity to the television.
When he gets too close, the toy is triggered creating bubbles, distracting him and reminding him to move back from the TV. As soon as he has achieved the desired distance, the toy stops.
Here’s his creative solution at work:
A lot of people lauded the creative idea of algorithms working to help parents.
But many pointed out how kids are smart enough to work around them. For example, they could break the toy or wait till the bubble solution finishes. A few also suggested books and monitor blocks as alternative solutions.
It is quite possible that kids will eventually learn ways to beat the algorithm but there’s no denying the fact that this is one cool parenting hack.