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New technology could help parents keep babies safe

LAS VEGAS — Self-driving cars, 8K televisions and a robot that plays ping pong are getting plenty of attention at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show.

[READ MORE: Here's some of the latest tech on display at Consumer Electronics Show 2019]

Channel 2's consumer adviser Clark Howard said part of the show focused on start-ups, and some of the ideas could really help parents.

Over 1,200 startups from 50 different countries fill Eureka Park.

It’s where people with ideas who have worked on them for years go not only to test them, but also to bring them to market.

“We’ve been working on this for, like, six years,” Nate Ward said.

Ward helped developed the Smartbeat, a camera that monitors the breathing of infants.

“If you watched a video of a baby sleeping, you might not know if they were breathing or not. If I played that video five times fast, the small movements that were almost invisible to you become very apparent. That’s what a camera can do, it doesn’t have that same limitation that human eyes have,” Ward said.

If Smartbeat senses a change in breathing, it will send an alert.

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It helps parents sleep at night as they feel reassured. They can see the “inhale, exhale” of the breath they see on the phones. That’s when they know it’s working.

Smartbeat costs $250.

There’s also Willow, a wearable breast pump.

“We ultimately came up with the idea of something that mimics what a baby does and latches and acts like a baby,” Nat Willow said.

The pump connects via Bluetooth to the mother’s phone so she can track volume and history.

“We’ve enabled Willow to be clear. So a mom can look and see where they are on the pump and quick-snap closure and they are ready to go and start pumping right away,” Willow said.

The pump retails for $499. It may seem high, but the freedom it will give mothers could be priceless.