Netflix socks will pause TV when you fall asleep

Netflix has produced a step-by-step guide to help you make a pair of smart socks that will detect when you’re asleep - and pause what you’re watching when you do.

Admittedly, you’ll need to have a bit of programming knowledge, as the Netflix socks require a small circuit, which then fits inside the socks.

The company has provided instructions, full details are here, but in brief, the sleep detection system is based on a method called actigraphy, which relies on an accelerometer to detect when you’ve stopped moving for a prolonged period of time.

A small LED will blink before sending the pause signal to the TV, so if you've simply been frozen still, transfixed by the action on screen, that will be your cue to move and cancel the signal.

Of course, this is all somewhat hypothetical - you need to focus on making them first. Still, a pair of Netflix-pausing socks would certainly make a nice change to the more typical Christmas socks so often found under the tree... If you fancy the challenge, do let us know if you get them working.

MORE: Netflix review

[Source: Netflix via Engadget]

Max is a staff writer for What Hi-Fi?'s sister site, TechRadar, in Australia. But being the wonderful English guy he is, he helps out with content across a number of Future sites, including What Hi-Fi?. It wouldn't be his first exposure to the world of all things hi-fi and home cinema, as his first role in technology journalism was with What Hi-Fi? in the UK. Clearly he pined to return after making the move to Australia and the team have welcomed him back with arms wide open.