Icelandic Mom-Turned-Entrepreneur Eyrún Eggertsdóttir Designs a Doll to Mimic Neonatal Biorhythms
A new wave of devices proposes to improve how kids experience the world, striving to support everything from sleep quality to balance and coordination.
A new wave of devices proposes to improve how kids experience the world, striving to support everything from sleep quality to balance and coordination.
Basic biology is often a powerful form of technology. Consider newborns: According to studies—most recently in scientific journals like Scientific Reports and Children—keeping infants in close proximity to a heartbeat and steady breathing can promote neurological development and healthy sleep. But that kind of contact isn’t available to all infants‚ especially those in neonatal units. That got young Icelandic mother Eyrún Eggertsdóttir wondering: Why hadn’t someone designed a device that could mimic those biorhythms?
Eggertsdóttir took on the project herself and created Lulla‚ a pillowy doll with velvety-soft fabric and a folksy look. Lulla (in Iceland "go to lúlla" is like saying "nighty-night") functions as a sleep aid‚ thanks to an internal audio unit that emits heartbeat and breathing sounds recorded with a kundalini yoga instructor. If that seems vaguely dystopic, Eggertsdóttir is aware. But when she studied similar devices‚ she found that the gadgets played unnaturally fast heartbeats or white noise—synthetic sounds that were hardly lifelike.
"We’re trying to copy Mother Nature because she’s got the best solutions‚" says Eggertsdóttir‚ who landed on Lulla’s 75 "heartbeats" per minute and 65-decibel maximum volume level after chatting with doctors and nurses at a neonatal unit. Lulla also eschews other common sleep aids that its creator finds even more absurd than a simulated human heartbeat. It wouldn’t make sense for Lulla to come with 10 light settings or a menu of sounds‚ she says‚ because "sleeping people don’t make whale sounds all of a sudden."
Initially produced via crowdfunding‚ Lulla was a hit from inception‚ winning awards‚ selling out multiple times‚ and eliciting effusive online parental praise.
That fandom prompted RóRó (Lulla’s parent company) to introduce in 2020 the Lulla Owl, which straps to the side of a crib to make it safe for babies younger than 12 months‚ and this year RóRó plans to release a larger doll just for toddlers and older children‚ as well as a soothing pillow for adults.
Products for the Senses
Objecto W4 Hybrid Humidifier
Known for its design-minded spin on air-quality gadgets‚ Objecto has produced an ultra-quiet humidifier with an array of controls that‚ among other things‚ adjust mist output and aroma tabs to diffuse essential oils for wind-down time.
Photo: Jamie Chung
Designed to soothe fussy infants and help them sleep—as if next to their caregivers all night—this plush‚ unassuming doll contains a speaker that plays a recording of the breathing and heartbeat of a resting adult.
Photo by Jamie Chung
Sensory Play Space Divider
This plywood divider can be almost anything your kid wants it to be: Five perforated panels swivel to become a castle‚ cave‚ or fort. Squishy tubes and colorful felt balls make it extra tactile.
Photo by Jamie Chung
See the full story on Dwell.com: Icelandic Mom-Turned-Entrepreneur Eyrún Eggertsdóttir Designs a Doll to Mimic Neonatal Biorhythms
