What’s Going On In Their Little Heads?

One of my favorite movies as a kid was called The Last Starfighter, a sci-fi flick about a kid who is recruited to become a Starfighter after mastering an arcade game that was planted on earth by an intergalactic army. To facilitate communication between the various alien races, the Starfighters were all fitted with little earpieces that automatically translated whatever language was being spoken into the listener’s native language. I’ve thought of this often since having Pooky, because I wish I had an earpiece that would interpret her various coos, cries and screams into something I could understand. If I could only figure out what she’s trying to tell me, I could respond and make her happy. It can be a pretty desperate feeling, especially when she’s screaming.

I don’t think I’m alone, because there’s a large (and growing) body of products that purport to help parents understand what their babies are trying to communicate. I tend to think of them, in many cases, as preying on new parents’ desperation. Some seem better than others. May and I recently watched an Oprah show featuring Priscilla Dunstan, who claims to understand the language of babies. May didn’t think much of it, but I was pretty impressed. I guess I’m more of a sucker for that kind of stuff.

Here’s something I think even May would like, though: Scientists at Missouri State University at Springfield are developing some kind of a facial recognition software that can interpret the meanings behind babies’ expressions and will alert NICU staff when babies are distressed or in pain (link found via Babygadget, where I also learned that until very recently babies often underwent surgery without anesthesia). Now that’s a good use of technology.