The Skinner Box, that is: a “futuristic” baby bed designed by psychologist B.F. Skinner to keep his new daughter comfortable and secure.

It seems like old-school tech now, but when Skinner built his “Air-Crib” it was the latest and greatest. His baby daughter was in it for eleven months [not non-stop!] when he wrote, “Her remarkable good health and happiness and my wife’s welcome leisure have exceeded our most optimistic predictions, and we are convinced that a new deal for both mother and baby is at hand.”

But it never caught on. Even though the behavioral expert designed it to maintain a comfortable temperature, provide built-in toys, and maintain feeding and sleeping schedules, society overall thought it a little too “Brave New World” — although Skinner did later report hearing from 73 couples who’d raised 130 babies using his design.

Read more about it here. Would you ever want to try something like this?