University Of Pennsylvania Grads Take Aim At Inadvertent Dozing
By Mike DeNardo
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Imagine a device that would nudge you awake if you're nodding off at a crucial time.
Three University of Pennsylvania grads say they've developed just such a thing.
The device is called Vigo.
It's a Bluetooth headset that monitors your eyes' blink patterns and when it determines you're nodding off, it alerts you with a light, vibration or sound.
Penn Grad Jason Gui says he and two classmates, Drew Karabinos and Jonathan Kern, invented Vigo as a senior project to avoid drowsy periods in class.
Now they hope to market it to truck drivers, medical professionals and others who need to stay awake.
"What we gradually found was that there were more and more people who needed something like that. Like, we had professors, we had other friends come over to us and say like, 'Wow, I wish I had that during my boring meetings at work.'"
They've got a Kickstarter campaign going to fund a public product launch later this year.
The Vigo is expected to retail for around $100.