AS-001
Air-Cushioned Infant Scale

red dot: best of the best
red dot award: product design 2008

Cushioned on air
During the first couple of months in the life of a baby, it is very important to check its weight at regular intervals. Nurses and parents have to check whether the baby drinks enough and gains in weight according to normal growth and development patterns. The form of today’s infant scales, however, hardly ever follows the trend towards unlimited portability; they are bulky and heavy, and not altogether easily placed into a car for quick transportation. Against this backdrop, the air-cushioned AS-001 infant scale presents a new form of flexibility and functionality; it can be folded up for convenient storage and carriage. Its innovatively compact design approach uses a cushion made of a plastic bubble filled with air. In order to weigh a baby, a nurse for instance simply has to push the power button so that within seconds air is pumped into the transparent cushion bubbles – an automatic process of organic appearance that provides a soft and elastic air-cushioned platform for the baby to lie on. After use, pushing one button allows the air to leak out again, permitting the scale to be rolled up to the size of a pocket umbrella. This unusual concept of a mobile infant scale is backed up by contemporary high-precision technology: The scale utilises the difference in air pressure to detect the weight. A sensor transforms the change in air pressure into a voltage signal to determine the exact weight of the baby. This high precision technology further underlines the light and confidence-inspiring appearance of the scale – a design that lends this product genre a new aesthetic and functionality.