The Netflix folks are at it again. If you were at World Maker Faire in New York this year, you might remember the Switch. And now they’re back with their latest DIY project, the Netflix socks. These socks detect when you’ve marathon-watched yourself to sleep (who hasn’t?), and send a signal to your TV, automatically pausing your movie or show. The idea was inspired by ideas from Netflix users, and the technology comes from a FitBit hack that Netflix engineers came up with last year.
They’re clever. They’re cozy. Obviously, we had to make some for ourselves.
The socks use a method called actigraphy to tell when you’ve dozed off. An accelerometer detects when you’ve stopped moving for a prolonged period of time, then an LED light in the cuff of the sock flashes to let you know that the pause signal is about to be fired. If you’ve fallen asleep, your show will be ready and waiting for you when you wake up – right where you left off.
So get out your soldering iron, pick up those knitting needles and check out the video to see how it’s done. See below for the schematic and get the full instructions at MakeIt.Netflix.com
This project is brought to you by Netflix.
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