A recent internal Netflix 24-hour Hack Day had employees come up with new creative ways of improving the company’s product, TechCrunch reveals, with one interesting hack connecting a wearable device – the Fitbit band in this case – to Netflix in order to automatically stop video playback when the user falls asleep. By picking up and analyzing movements, the software can tell when the user is falling asleep and stop the show he or she is watching. When the viewer returns to Netflix, he or she can resume the show from the moment the user fell asleep.
With more and more companies launching new wearable devices that are able to assist with fitness and health, including assessing sleep, this Netflix feature could work with other Fitbit-like devices. However, this is just a concept software features, and it’s not clear whether Netflix will use it in the future.
In addition to the Sleep Tracker feature, Netflix shared a variety of cool projects devised by its employees, and which could one day find their way into the company’s software.
Custom Playlists lets users build multiple playlists and manage them while watching videos without going back to browsing. Radial is a reinvented keyboard for game console users that use the device to play Netflix videos. Netflix Beam is an easy way to share a Netflix account with visiting friends without actually sharing your account details. Profile PIN Protection is a feature that will let users protect their profiles with a PIN code on shared accounts.
Videos showing the Sleep Tracker feature and the other Netflix hacks follow below.
