Nope, Netflix isn't punking everyone. Netflix socks are real... and actually kind of ingenious.
Instead of throwing bags of money at a corny TV commercial, Netflix decided to get creative for the holidays. The company has posted a step-by-step guide for creating Netflix socks, socks that automatically pause the video on your TV when you fall asleep.
How do the socks work? The socks are powered by an Arduino microcontroller and an accelerometer is used to detect motion. When the accelerometer detects you've stopped moving, an LED light will flash red and send a signal to your TV to tell it to pause the video.
Netflix says the accelerometer it picked for this DIY project is can detect the subtlest movements "so it’s good at detecting when you’re just sitting still, raptly watching Netflix, and when you’ve actually fallen asleep."
You can stuff the electronics into an old pair of socks, but where's the fun in that? There's also 17 different sock patterns you can knit based on Netflix shows like Bloodline, BoJack Horseman, and DareDevil.
If you still haven't done your holiday shopping, Netflix socks sound like a great gift! But be warned: You will need to get your hands a little dirty. The project requires a little bit of soldering and programming. As long as you can follow instructions, you should be fine.
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