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Netflix Creates DIY Smart Socks That Pause Your Show When You Fall Asleep (netflix.com) 76

Posted by samzenpus from the super-socks dept.
HughPickens.com writes: We've all said "just one more episode before bed" to ourselves only to fall asleep halfway through while Netflix kept playing. It's frustrating to try to put the pieces back together the next day as you attempt to determine what you last saw before you dozed off — and Netflix feels your pain. Now Nathan McAlone writes at Business Insider that Netflix has built socks that read your body to understand when you fall asleep, and then automatically pause your Netflix show. The sleep detection socks use an accelerometer to tell when you've stopped moving for a while (presumably when you've fallen asleep). In the socks prototype, an LED light in the cuff of the sock begins to flash red when you've been immobile, letting you know it is about to pause your show. If you move at all, it cancels the countdown. Netflix released a detailed parts list (PDF), including where you can purchase each item needed, as well as schematics you can follow as you build out the electronics. The company even put together the basic code you'll need to use to program the electronics, though you'll need to find your TV's IR signals to make it work. The knitting process for the socks doesn't seem too difficult (if you already know how to knit, of course), and Netflix offers a handful of patterns based on the company's popular shows — including "BoJack Horseman," "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt," "Bloodline," "Master of None" and "House of Cards."
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Netflix Creates DIY Smart Socks That Pause Your Show When You Fall Asleep More

Netflix Creates DIY Smart Socks That Pause Your Show When You Fall Asleep

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  • Well (Score:3)

    by U2xhc2hkb3QgU3Vja3M ( 4212163 ) on Friday December 18, 2015 @08:20AM (#51142629)

    Even if you consider all of this to be a huge Netflix and Adafruit commercial, you have to admit that it's a pretty nerdy project (cue "White and Nerdy [wikipedia.org]").

  • Just a moment, darling... (Score:3)

    by DrTJ ( 4014489 ) on Friday December 18, 2015 @08:20AM (#51142631)

    ... I'll be riiight there. Just have to put on my TV viewing socks first. Darn, I have to charge them!
    Do you have yours on? What do you mean, not comfy nor pretty enough..?

    • I guess socks are the least obtrusive wearable while sleeping... but I can't wait to get out of repressive socks when I want to get comfortable and I certainly don't like sleeping in socks.

      I think this is just another way for modest America to "get you"

      Perhaps Netflix boxer shorts? Hmm, that seems unsavory somehow.

      I guess I will just stick with the pause button until they invent the Netflix chip-in-your-head...

      • Replace socks with toe ring, or any other wearable item that would be in view when you're watching Netflix.

        Essentially, they've made an easy to use keep-alive remote control - I watch on a PC that has a VNC server, so I can VNC in through my phone and tap the "I'm still watching" prompts without leaving my chair, but that's a PITA - even though it only happens every episode or two. By making the accelerometer much easier to use than launching and manipulating a VNC client, they can increase the frequency o

      • A Netflix condom? When it gets small again, time to turn the pron off...

    • And whose fault is it that they are not comfy or pretty enough? I mean I am sure your wife, like mine, knitted her own socks from fiber that she has harvested, processed, spun, dyed? (It always surprises me how expensive DIY socks costs. I would have thought and some yarn and needles would be sufficient. But one has to have multiple spinning wheels, combs, etc. Then there are the conventions which are as weird as the science fiction conventions that I go to. The list goes on.)

      • You're not factoring the cost of feeding and shearing the sheep/alpaca/goat/dog etc... yes, it's much cheaper to buy knit items then make them yourself, especially if you count the lost opportunity cost of your labor. On the other hand, most experienced knitters can multiplex; they're knitting is so automatic they can do it anywhere while doing other things. My girlfriend used to knit during sex...

        • Re: (Score:1)

          by KGIII ( 973947 )

          I'm not surprised to say this on Slashdot but you are REALLY BAD at sex. Wow. I may be old but if you've got knitting needles in the bed while we're having sex (or in the kitchen, the living room, the floor) then someone is going to poke an eye out. If she's even remotely able to knit during sex, you're doing it wrong.

          Well, not *wrong* per se... Just not very interesting. I guess if you're rather rhythmic then she can get the tempo going. Knit one, perl two, knit two, perl two... *sighs* Seriously? Knitting

  • What if I am very still while watching TV? And roll around a lot while sleeping?

  • Finally a reason to buy a smartwatch? Except then the battery is dead all day...

    SleepAsDroid has been algorithmically determining users' waking state for years using phone accelerometers. The socks are cute, but adding this feature to the existing apps would be (obviously) far more popular. And maybe save Netflix a few petabytes of transfer a month.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by DrVxD ( 184537 )

      Finally a reason to buy a smartwatch? Except then the battery is dead all day...

      Get a Pebble - mine lasts over 4 days between charges.

  • Ugh (Score:2)

    by Tighe_L ( 642122 )
    Netflix ruins me sleep cycles, I really need socks that stop me from watching after 8 PM.
  • Doesn't it though? At least for TV shows, it will stream like 2 or 3 episodes back to back before it spams you to say "continue watching". Pc, ps3, ps4 all do this. I really don't want netflix pausing my movie half way through.

  • Really (Score:5, Insightful)

    by IWantMoreSpamPlease ( 571972 ) on Friday December 18, 2015 @09:08AM (#51142797) Homepage Journal

    "We've all said "just one more episode before bed" to ourselves only to fall asleep halfway through while Netflix kept playing. It's frustrating to try to put the pieces back together the next day as you attempt to determine what you last saw before you dozed off"

    First World problems right there.

    • Making something useful and possibly learning something along the way seems like the perfect solution to most first world problems.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      First World problems right there.

      I hate that phrase cause it is always hypocritical. It implies that everyone should stop what they are doing and solve third world problems. But yet the person stating that phrase is always a first worlder themselves that does nothing more then maybe donate to a charity. So in all fairness it is really saying, YOU should stop what your doing and solve third world problems while I go back to House of Cards.

      • I think the point is that it's stupid to complain about such trivialities. People spend a truly absurd amount of effort and money to avoid even the suggestion of inconvenience, and so noting it as a "First World Problem" is an easy way to remind yourself that this thing barely qualifies as a concern if you actually consider how most of the species lives.

        It isn't about telling people to donate to charity. It's about telling people to stop whining.

      • Perhaps a better phrase would be "Everyone's got problems"

        I do think that the "First World problems" phrase has some merit as a "reality check" type of thing. But in this case you usually have to purposely blind yourself to the source and just take the phrase on its own.

        To automatically dismiss an idea because of hypocrisy is kind of like throwing the baby out with the bath water. Everyone is a hypocrite and a contradiction, that is sort of what it means to be alive. You take with one hand and give with the

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by jdavidb ( 449077 )

      First World problems right there.

      So?

    • First World problems right there.

      That's where I live. That's what I got.

    • I'm having trouble finding your point (which seems to be a trend I've noticed among people who call out first world problems). Yes, it's a first world problem. So what?

      We all know there are more important issues in the world. Clean water. Climate change. Disease. World hunger. War. Many of us are contributing in various ways towards solutions to those problems, whether financially, through raising awareness, or directly via our own work, and we're happy to discuss those issues here. But we all occasionally

  • eww (Score:2, Insightful)

    by wardrich86 ( 4092007 )
    who sleeps with socks on?

    • THANK YOU!

      Socks are repressive!

      Of course, being a man, this is the only restricting garment I wear so I really shouldn't complain...

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by KGIII ( 973947 )

      *raises hand slowly*

      I even wear them with sandals. I do not wear the sandals to bed. However, dress code (that some ignored) was that when I was in civilian attire, I still must wear socks. I got used to it. Now, I wear nice woolen socks from L.L. Bean and love 'em - I buy 'em by the dozen and usually every few months I get more. It's like my one lovely self-pampering thing. I love the feel of new socks. They make my feet happy!

      Also, here's a sock tip. Hah! Sock tip... I kill me...

      Anyhow, the next time you

      • Man, when it starts getting cold out, I love throwing my clothes for the day in the dryer for a bit. Makes the walk to the bus a bit more tolerable.

        Not sure I could handle the socks in bed thing, though... It's just something about the sock fabric touching the blanket that feels... weird.

        • Re: (Score:1)

          by KGIII ( 973947 )

          I generally wear socks even when in bed in the summer - even when I lived in the south. I've a pretty pointless saying that I use with alarming frequency when someone asks me what I think.

          "What do you think?"
          "I think most people's feet are ugly and there's not a damned thing they can do about it."

          I'm not sure where I picked it up or if it's something I've always thought but I've been saying for probably 35+ years. I have no idea if the dress code is the same way but when I was in school I had to wear socks

  • How is this ever going to work? (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    First, as my comment on the article notes, this device is sewn into the socks, so they can't be cleaned. Not hygienic. These things would start to smell real bad after the first week of me using them.

    2nd, you have to wear these over your pants, with shorts, or while watching in your underwear. Which I guess is to be expected if you are watching late at night, but its cold in the winter and I don't keep my heat cranked to 80, so.. not very practical. And what happens when your other foot covers the IR blaste

  • It's called my brain, it let's me remember what parts of a show I've seen and what parts I haven't.

  • Fuck you, Netflix. Don't waste your time and money on connected socks. Just give me back the back catalog of older movies you used to have. I mean, Sense8 and Jessica Jones are all fine and dandy, but occasionally I'd like to look at some old DiPalma film from the 1970s or film noir from the '50s. It can't cost much to license those old movies, so why not give them back?

    • Yeah, I have noticed a real decline.

      I guess this must just be due to the fact that every network now has their own streaming service that they want you to pay for.

      It seemed like Netflix used to have a nearly bottomless well of content, now I am hard pressed to find new stuff. It also seems like I can browse through Netflix's entire streaming catalog in a few minutes from my Roku... which doesn't seem right.

      Also, Jessica Jones was a pretty great show. My favorite Netflix original, though, was "The Killing".

      • My favorite Netflix original, though, was "The Killing"

        I have to give that one another try. I watched the first episode when I was coming off a binge of some other detective shows and just didn't have the will.

        • What I really liked about that show was the genuineness.

          For me it just rang true all throughout, it was nice to watch a show where my BS alarm wasn't constantly going off.

          Of course, it could just be the mood I was in at the time and then cherry picking my warm fuzzy memories and forgetting the rest. I have a tendency to do that.

          I have always been a sucker for the serial too.

    • Is it cheaper to pay for a whole production season of a show, basically an 8+ hour movie, or license 4 two hour movies? Why would Netflix consider this strategy?

      Rights holders are doing their own streaming, but it started before that. Netflix started getting delayed access to DVDs before streaming took off, so netflix started content production as a hedge. One or two hits and subscribers jumped on.

      And profit margin is higher on DVD by mail, yet they push people towards streaming.

      IOW it won't happen, though

      • Paramount just released like 500 old movies on YouTube, and I would bet that others will take advantage of existing infrastructure instead of building their own streaming

        Unfortunately, watching movies in the living room on a big screen is not as pleasant an experience on YouTube as it is on Netflix.

        The fact is, that licensing those old movies is not really expensive. You could almost certainly license all 500 of those movies Paramount put on YouTube for the amount it takes to produce one episode of one Net

  • All my life I have been wearing dumb socks.
  • I still have to assume this is a joke (who would notice a blinking LED on your lower leg?) but the problem seems real enough. Hasn't this been largely addressed by Smart Pause, the technology that pauses YouTube videos when you look away? For this application you would want it set to be a bit less sensitive, but if you have a camera then it seems a simple matter of programming to pause playback if you go more than a minute or two without detecting (open) eyes.

  • Or... (Score:2)

    by dskoll ( 99328 )

    ... an easy-to-hide dead-man's switch for someone doing something nefarious.

  • Netflix offers a handful of patterns based on the company's popular shows — including "BoJack Horseman," "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt," "Bloodline," "Master of None" and "House of Cards."

    What about Orange is the New Black where Piper and Alex are making love sweet love in the shower?

  • I've incorporated this technology into my Cock Sock, so that it can detect & alert me when I've fallen asleep masturbating.

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