OWLET BABY CARE | Owlet Smart Sock | 2015
A sock that saves lives / OWLET BABY CARE "Owlet Smart Sock"
A sock measures a baby's heart rate and oxygen level, and sends an alert to a parent's phone if something seems off. It's a product designed by R/GA that won Gold in the Innovation category at Cannes in 2015.
The problem
In the United States, suffocation is one of the leading causes of infant death. Traditional baby monitors only offer a camera and audio, so they can't tell you whether your baby is actually breathing properly. The technology to measure heart rate and oxygen saturation existed in hospitals, but nothing like it was available for use at home.
The insight
What parents want isn't a string of numbers, it's simply to hear "everything's fine." So the hospital pulse oximeter was reimagined as a sock that tells you only whether things are normal or not. R/GA wasn't aiming to show off technology, but to ease parents' worry.
The idea
A sock-shaped device measures heart rate and blood oxygen level, and only sends a notification to the parent's phone when a reading falls outside the normal range. The material is soft so babies won't mind wearing it, and the app screen is kept simple enough to understand at a glance, even in the middle of the night. Put it on, let the baby sleep, and all that's left for the parent to do is relax.
What happened
At Cannes in 2015, the work won Gold in the Innovation category along with Silver and Bronze in the Mobile category. That same year R/GA was named Agency of the Year with 33 Lions, and Owlet became a defining piece of that work. When general sales began in the 10th month of 2015, there were reportedly accounts from parents whose babies had actually been saved by it.
Afterthought
This is a case of an ad agency building an actual product, not just a campaign. Some things only become meaningful once people keep using them. I'm the kind of bear who wakes up worried multiple times a night myself, so honestly, I'd love one of these.
Awards
- Cannes Lions Gold 2015
