Digitial video baby monitor, 'MBP26'; Motorola, USA, 2014-2015; manufactured in China

Digital video monitor, consisting of a camera unit, handheld 'parent unit', AC power cable, recharging cable, printed instructions and a box.

1. Digital video camera, an elliptical unit mounted on an eliptical foot, supported by a foot placed in a mount which allows it to tilt backwards and forwards, and to pivot from side-to-side. The whole is made from white plastic. The camer is mounted on the proper right side, and is a black lens surrounded by a silver plastic ring, punctuated with LEDs. On the side, next to the camera, is an on/off switch and pairing button. On the base of the foot are four soft plastic feet, and two hooks for wall-mounting.

2. The parent unit is a handheld, rechargable digital video monitor and remote control. It is a roughly rectangular device, with rounded corners, made from white plastic, with a black plastic face. The top of the device is dominated by a large video screen, above which is displayed the battery charge level. Below the monitor are the camera remote controls, to increase and decrease volume, return key, a D-pad to control the tilt and pan functions, and a talk button to activate the microphone. The rechargeable AAA battery unit fits into the back, and is closed with a white plastic panel.

3. AC cable for camera unit.

4. Charging cable for 'parent unit'.

5. Printed paper instruction manual.

6. Printed card box.

Purchased by the MoC in 2015 [2015/516].

One of the earliest baby monitors was the ‘Radio Nurse’ (see V&A W.16-2007), designed in Chicago in 1937 by Isamu Noguchi. This was a relatively simple device, a one-way microphone-transmitter (its ‘Guardian Ear’) relaying to a stylish Bakelite loudspeaker. This principle of audio monitoring of sleeping infants has remained commonly unchanged to the present day. Significant (and often costly) changes to this system have included the development of baby monitors with two-way communication allowing guardians to remotely soothe their child, digital transmission (for a clearer signal) motion sensors, and video.

The Motorola MBP26 consists of two parts: a mains-powered digital video camera and a battery-powered handheld ‘parent unit’. The camera is able to remotely pan and tilt, so parents can try to find better views of their child without disturbing it. It is equipped with infra-red night vision, a high-sensitivity microphone and two-way communication. Its product literature claims it is effective at a distance of up to 300m.

Objects such as these reveal much about the anxiety of new parents when caring for very young children, and how manufacturers create products in response to this anxiety which are designed to ease parents’ fears. On another thread, the development of these products raises questions of whether these sorts of expensive product are really strictly necessary outside of the medical environment, and whether they ease or heighten the anxieties of parents.

B.91-2015