Dezeen Magazine

New Deal Design's Fever Scout child thermometer allows parents to monitor temperature remotely

Paranoid parents can remotely track their child's temperature using this lightning bolt-shaped thermometer that connects to a smartphone app by San Francisco studio New Deal Design (+ movie).

The colourful Fever Scout thermometer is stuck to a child's torso as a plaster would be, and uses Bluetooth to deliver constant feedback to parents' electronic devices.

Fever Scout thermometer by New Deal Design
The thermometer is stuck to a child's torso in the same way as a plaster

The patch uses Californian company VivaLnk's e-skin technology – a flexible breathable circuit that can be worn on the skin.

Shaped like a lightning bolt with rounded edges, the product features a blue to purple gradient across its surface.

"We wanted to add a sense of fun to Fever Scout," New Deal Design founder Gadi Amit told Dezeen. "It was important that it not look too medical, so we actually transformed it into a symbol of activity, something iconic."

Fever Scout thermometer by New Deal Design
Fever Scout comes with 10 additional adhesive strips that can be attached to the thermometer to make it reusable

"Dematerialisation is a big issue," said Amit, who also designed the Fitbit activity tracker. "With a product like this you have no constraints, but, at the same time, you're looking for something recognisable. What is the form of something that's so amorphous? It was actually a huge debate in the studio."

New Deal Design's other internet-connected products include wearable technology for dogs and a device that syncs to any speaker in the home.

The Fever Scout app charts the data on a clock-like interface, which shows changing temperatures across the course of the day.

Fever Scout thermometer by New Deal Design
An accompanying dock allows the thermometer to be recharged

Annotations can be added to keep track of when to give children aspirin and water. Parents can add alerts to the app that will let them know when particular temperatures are reached.

Fever Scout comes with 10 additional adhesive strips that can be attached to the thermometer to make it reusable, and more are available to buy from VivaLnk. The patch itself is washable.

An accompanying dock allows the thermometer to be recharged, although the company claims children's temperature can be monitored for up to a week on a single charge.

Fever Scout thermometer by New Deal Design
The Fever Scout app charts the data on a clock-like interface, which shows changing temperatures across the course of the day

In an interview with Dezeen last year, Amit said that people may be carrying many of these types of monitoring devices on their bodies in a decade's time.

"In about 10 years we may find ourselves with maybe 10 of these devices on our body, or maybe woven into our clothes, maybe even under our skin," he said.

"They'll do some medical monitoring, they could be administering some medical treatments for acute conditions, they'll deal with our social life around us, they'll deal with our digital persona."

Fever Scout thermometer by New Deal Design
Parents can add alerts to the app that will let them know when particular temperatures are reached

Israeli designer Ido Abulafia has also set his sights on improving children's medical experiences, by creating a blood test kit that turned into a bird-themed toy.

Royal College of Art student Celine Park attempted to design more approachable medical devices, with a range of conceptual fungus inhalers that would allow users to inhale vaccines, rather than being injected.