If you ever partake in watching Netflix — and of course you do, this is the Netflix and chill generation after all — then you might have experienced the frustration of falling asleep and speeding episodes ahead in whatever series you’re watching. Granted, it’s an extremely minor grievance, but in 2015 it’s prolific enough an issue to warrant some sort of invention. Step forward, if you’ll pardon the pun, Netflix socks.
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Instead of going down the tried and tested route of making tear-jerker ads that feature men on the Moon, WW1 chocolate swapping or an old German man, Netflix got creative by posting a step-by-step guide for creating Netflix socks, socks that automatically pause the video on your TV when you fall asleep.
The socks work like so: they are powered by an Arduino microcontroller and an accelerometer is used to detect motion. When said accelerometer detects that you’ve stopped moving and fallen asleep (and hopefully not died), an LED light will flash red and send a signal to your TV to tell it to pause the video.
Where this leaves those of us who watch Netty on the laptop though is unclear. When explaining the merits of the accelerometer it picked for the DIY project, Netflix said:
It’s good at detecting when you’re just sitting still, raptly watching Netflix, and when you’ve actually fallen asleep.
You can put the electronic device into any old pair of socks, but should you want to go full on Christmas, there’s 17 different sock patterns you can knit based on Netflix shows like Bloodline, BoJack Horseman, and DareDevil.
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I should probably tell you about now that this is actually a bit of a DIY job. You will have to do a bit of soldering and programming. This means I’m probably out of contention for a pair of these, but as long as you can follow instructions, you should be fine.
Between these socks and the ‘Netflix and chill’ button, your living room is basically becoming an ergonomic technological shrine to your Netflix viewing habit.
