Is baby hungry, sleepy or just unhappy? These Japanese apps help interpret cries
The apps use AI-powered tools trained on baby cries to help parents decode their children’s needs
One of them is Babylingual, a free app released in March by Moto Numazawa, a 25-year-old father in the Kanagawa prefecture city of Chigasaki, near Tokyo.
In late April, Numazawa held his smartphone up to his three-month-old son, Saku. Seconds later, the app displayed the message: “I’m hungry.”
Alongside the result, the screen showed a gauge indicating the likelihood of that interpretation compared with other possible needs and advised: “It might be feeding time.”
By that point, three hours had passed since Saku’s morning feeding. After being fed, he quickly fell asleep in the arms of his mother, Yu.
Babylingual applies previous research suggesting babies make distinct vocalisations in response to needs such as hunger and sleep, classifying cries into five patterns.