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Car safety seats are infamously tricky to install correctly, so the upcoming 4moms self-installing child seat is a welcome development. The smart seat installs itself, automatically adjusting levels and tensioning to fit perfectly with the car’s seat. It also connects to a smartphone app via Bluetooth, enabling users to constantly monitor its status, reassuring parents that their kids are safe in the back.

The seat itself can accommodate children from 4-30 lb. It has an adjustable headrest, a retractable canopy and a five-point harness system. To begin, parents connect the seat base to their car’s latch anchors, which then adjust the level and tension. The system provides audio and visual cues to signify that the base is correctly fitted, and further signals every time they attach the seat. If anything goes wrong, such as a loss of tension, the seat provides warning signals and advises the parent on how to fix it. Notifications can also be accessed via the 4moms smartphone app, which provides monitoring through the smartphone’s internal accelerometer and gyroscope.

The self-installing car seat is currently available for pre-order and will be available from June 2016. We recently saw the Mifold portable booster seat. How else could car seating be upgraded for additional comfort and safety?