Handheld Bedtime Controller With Light and Parent Communication
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Young children often experience anxiety at bedtime due to imagined monsters, specters, or demons, which conventional nightlights or hallway lights may not adequately alleviate, requiring additional measures to comfort them.
Innovation Solution
A hand-held controller unit with a user interface that facilitates two-way communication with a parent and wirelessly activates external devices producing sounds or lights, combined with a bed cover and scented perfume to create a comforting environment, helping to dispel imagined threats.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Illumination intensity
If conventional nightlights or hallway lights are used, then some illumination is provided, but the child's fear and anxiety are not adequately alleviated
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple functions into a single handheld device: flashlight illumination, two-way radio communication with parents, and activation of external deterrent devices. This integration allows the child to have both light and active anti-monster capabilities in one device, directly addressing the insufficiency of simple nightlights.
Solution Approach 2:
The handheld device serves multiple purposes: it provides illumination like a nightlight, enables communication with parents for reassurance, and activates external devices to produce sounds and lights that deter imagined monsters. This multi-functionality ensures the device effectively addresses the child's fears in multiple ways simultaneously.
2Reliability
If the child needs significant extra help to stave off monsters, then the child's fear is better addressed, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system employs a nested structure where a simple handheld controller contains wireless transmission capabilities that activate more complex external devices positioned around the room. The handheld unit itself is simple for the child to operate, while the external devices handle the complex functions of producing coordinated sounds and lights to effectively deter imagined monsters.
Solution Approach 2:
The handheld device serves as an intermediary between the child and the external deterrent devices. The child simply presses buttons on the handheld unit, which wirelessly communicates with and activates the external devices that produce the actual sounds and lights. This mediator approach keeps the child's interaction simple while achieving complex anti-monster effects.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution provides psychological comfort and reassurance to children by allowing them to actively engage with their environment, reducing anxiety and fear of imagined bed-time threats through auditory and visual stimuli, while also offering a means of communication with parents.
Implementation Method 1
The controller unit also includes an energy-emitting device integrated with the housing and operatively connected to the user interface control circuit
Implementation Method 2
The controller unit further includes an audio transducer integrated with the housing and operatively connected to the audio transceiver circuit
Implementation Method 3
activation of said at least one external device results in said at least one external device producing one or more of an alternating audible sound
Implementation Method 4
activation of said at least one external device results in said at least one external device producing one or more of an alternating audible sound, a pulsating visible light, or a flashing visible light
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
A devices and implements for staving off monsters, specters, demons and the like as imagined by a child at bedtime. A hand-held controller unit is provided having a user interface and which is capable of being used by the child under the bed covers of a bed. The hand-held controller unit may include any of a walkie-talkie capability, a flashlight capability, a nightlight capability, the capability to activate an external device, and other capabilities. At least one external device may be provided. The external device may be capable of being placed beneath the bed and is configured to be activated by the hand-held controller unit. At least one substantially hollow air-through member may be provided which is configured to facilitate airflow between underneath the bed covers of the bed and above the bed covers of the bed. A supplemental bed cover may be provided that is configured to be placed on the bed.