- COCOLIN is a service that informs the user of changes in the child's precise body temperature and heart rate by attaching a transmitter to a special undergarment and wearing it.
- Kimuratan Corporation, which is developing the product, is a long-established apparel manufacturer for infants. Comfortable underwear for zero stress
- Accurate data collection and push notifications with alerts reduce the burden on childcare workers and prevent Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).
Child care workers interact with children and watch over their growth and safety. Managing the safety of children, whose bodies are small and their physical conditions change easily, is one of the most important aspects of their work. The "cocolin" system introduced here supports the work of childcare workers with the power of technology. It quickly detects changes in body temperature and heart rate that cannot be seen from the outside and alerts them. We interviewed Mr. Norio Koda and Mr. Hironobu Shimazawa (titles below omitted), who belong to the Wearable Business Division of Kimuratan Corporation, the developer of cocolin, about the appeal of cocolin, which won the grand prize in the "Safety Measures and Monitoring" category of the "BabyTech® Award Japan 2021", We asked them about the concept of cocolin, how it was developed, and how it will be developed in the future.
(We spoke to...)
Kimuratan Co.
Wearable Business Section
Norio Koda
Hironobu Shimazawa
Keeping Children Safe with Vital Data
Editorial:Thank you very much for your time today. First of all, could you tell us about the concept of "cocolin"?
Koda:COCOLIN is an all-day preschool child monitoring service that uses wearable IOT technology to detect children's physical conditions before they become ill. It keeps track of your child's physical condition from the time he or she arrives at school to the time he or she leaves, including during nap time, and alerts you if there is a problem.
Editorial:I believe that childcare workers check on children every 5 to 10 minutes during nap time, etc. What kind of monitoring can be achieved by combining this with COCOLIN?
Koda:In a nutshell, COCOLIN can be used to detect unseen physical changes in a child. Specifically, the system is equipped with sensors that monitor the child's "heart rate," "body temperature," and "acceleration," and it watches for "poor physical condition," "stress," "body movement," and "depression," and alerts the user if there is any problem.
Editorial:It is true that you cannot tell the heart rate, body temperature, and body movements within a certain period of time just by looking at them.
Koda:One of the advantages of taking data for a certain period of time, such as from the start of the day to the end of the day, rather than fixed-point observations, is that it is easier to notice sudden changes in the child's physical condition and the duration of stress. One of the scariest things to watch for in infants and other children is something called Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). This is when a previously healthy child dies in his or her sleep without warning. It is the third leading cause of death in infancy, and the cause is not yet clearly understood.
https://www.mhlw.go.jp/stf/houdou/0000181942_00007.html
Editorial:That is a concern.
Koda:One theory says that it is like a baby's fetal gape. In a warm room temperature, the prone position is similar to being in the mother's stomach. It is also said that when in the belly, there is no need to breathe, which can lead to a state of apnea. Infants are not able to regulate their body temperature as well as adults, so it is necessary to monitor their body temperature frequently. In addition, it is important to immediately turn the infant onto his/her back if he/she is in a prone position.
Editorial:Thank you. I see that the ability to immediately alert the nursery staff of depression while measuring changes in body temperature is also a feature that nursery staff would appreciate! Did you decide on a wearable item in order to measure this kind of data properly?
Koda:Yes, it can be worn on the underwear without stress, it can accurately take body temperature and heart rate, and it eliminates false positives of the nocturnal posture.
Editorial:I see! Can you tell us how to use COCOLIN and how it works?
Koda:It is easy to use. All you need to do is to wear the SmartWear underwear and attach a measurement device called a transmitter to it. The data of each preschooler will then be reflected on the tablet.
Editorial:The underwear looks very comfortable.
Koda:Yes, in fact, we have been in the infant apparel business for nearly 100 years since our company was founded. The underwear we use is based on our "Affection Design" line of sewing specifications (flat seamer process), which features flat seams that do not feel loose, and a gentle feel that envelops newborn babies.
Editorial:That is safe to wear!
Knowing what you can't see will change the way your childcare staff behaves.
Editorial:I would like to hear specific examples of how cocolin has been useful in the field.
Koda:One of the most common cases is when a child's body temperature rose during a walk in the summer, so we had to end the walk early and return to the daycare center. Another case is when we found out that a child had forgotten to change a diaper after reading a stress alert. In another case, there was a child who was normally healthy but only showed a stress alert on Saturdays, and when we tried to find out why, we found out that the child was stressed because many of the children did not come to preschool on Saturdays and there were few children to talk to. One of the preschools said that the nursery staff tried to communicate with the children more than usual.
Editorial:I like the fact that based on the COCOLIN alerts, the childcare workers are changing their responses, avoiding risks and resolving stress!
Koda:Yes, we do. We have also heard from teachers at other day-care centers that have introduced COCOLIN that "we can see changes in physical condition throughout the day, which enhances childcare," and that "(using COCOLIN) has increased the amount of on-site talking, such as double-checking, and communication among the childcare staff has become more active. We also hear that communication with parents and child safety has improved because they can tell mothers and fathers about any concerns they have with cocolin.
Editorial:Thank you very much for the information on COCOLIN so we can take the next step. By the way, what is the meaning behind the name COCOLIN?
Koda:It is multiplied by two meanings. One is "heart," which means to take the vitals of the heart. The other is that children are often unaware of changes in their physical condition, and even if they are aware, it is difficult for them to communicate these changes to adults. By visualizing the condition of such children, we wanted to "connect heart to heart.
We want to reduce the burden on childcare workers through the power of IT.
Editorial:Can you tell us more about how COCOLIN was developed?
Koda:Yes, several years ago, we launched our own childcare business to see if there was anything we could do to address the shortage of daycare centers. We had always had a vague idea of what kind of work childcare workers do, but when we actually tried it ourselves, we were astonished at how hard it was.
Editorial:What parts of the project were difficult?
Koda:Between checking on the children every five minutes, keeping a record of their condition, writing to their mothers, creating and decorating for events, etc., there was hardly any time for us to take a break. When the representative learned of this situation, he asked himself, "Is there anything we can do with our business?" Cocolin was born out of this idea.
Editorial:How long did it take to develop?
Koda:That was about a year and a half. The time to check naps and the direction of naps varied from prefecture to prefecture, so we had to find a way to cover these differences. Of course, in the process, we received feedback from many nursery school teachers about the usability of the item and made many improvements.
Editorial:I think I understand why cocolin is supported by so many childcare workers.
I would like to expand the scope of the project to include more watchdogs.
Editorial:Finally, can you tell us about the future development of COCOLIN?
Shimazawa:We hope to verify the current application and further brush up on it. We have also received requests from families who have increased their work at home through Corona that they would like to watch over their children. We would like to offer a system that allows for dual monitoring of the mother and cocolin, for example.
Koda:We believe that it would be good to measure the stress of animals, not just humans, and apply this information to raising children in a way that does not stress them.
Shimazawa:Ultimately, through COCOLIN, we hope to create a society in which no child dies of SIDS.
Editorial:Thank you very much for your time today!
After the interview
Due to immature body functions, it is difficult for children to regulate their body temperature, and their physical condition often changes over the slightest thing. Listening to this talk, I was reminded of the importance of COCOLIN's concept of "preventing problems before they happen, because it is too late after something has happened. I believe that a system that provides all-day monitoring so that we can keep track of each child's normal condition and notify us immediately if there is a problem is something that many people are looking for, not only in the childcare field, but also at schools and at home. I will keep an eye on the future evolution of COCOLIN.
cocolin" official website
https://coco-lin.jp/
(ENDS)
Interviewing and writing:Misako Tateoka
From an IT company, she switched careers to the editing and publishing industry. Currently, I work as a freelance editor and writer, editing and writing in a wide range of fields such as travel, gourmet, and social.
What is important is "to convey valuable information to readers in an interesting and easy-to-understand manner.
He has been involved in the production of numerous magazines, including TRANSIT, FRaU, and Metro Minute.
BabyTech is always stimulated by all the services and products that I wish I had when I was a child! I am always inspired by the things I encounter at BabyTech. My hobbies are traveling, cooking, and aikido.
