Kids love tech especially if it blinks or comes in form of a videogame. We searched the WT market for wearable technologies products specially built for children. Some of them bring a fun aspect to rather dull but practical products, some can even improve the quality of life for children with serious illnesses.
Fighting Obesity at a very Early Stage
At Medica 2012 Vancive Medical Technologies presented an interesting game to encourage kids to exercise more at the WT booth. Together with the health gaming company Ayogo, Vancive’s combined their wearable sensor patch technology with a videogame called “I heart Jellyfish”, where the jellyfish is triggered by the kid’s heart rate.
For children with diabetes, pharmaceutical giant Bayer joined with Nintendo and offers the so called DIDGET™ Blood Glucose Monitoring System which is a blood glucose meter that plugs into a Nintendo DS™ or Nintendo DS™ Lite system. Kids are encouraged to regularly test their blood glucose with reward points, which can be used to receive new items and unlock new game levels.
The iBitz™ PowerKey and Unity activity trackers by GeoPalz® are wireless devices based on physical activity as well as a game, designed to motivate entire families to exercise more. A special device version for children is also available that wirelessly syncs to Bluetooth 4.0 phones or tablets. Along with an app, the system motivates to exercise through walking, running and/or playing, and in doing so to keep their ibitz avatar alive.
A a start-up called Sqord offers a further gamification / activity approach for kids – a game platform incorporating social media and a fitness tracker. The tracker, the Sqord PowerBand, is just like a wristwatch, only it doesn’t tell time, and does not have to be worn on the wrist, is nearly indestructible, and never needs to be recharged.
Help for Children with Sensory Processing Difficulties
The Singapore start-up company, T.Ware Pte Ltd. presented their T.jacket at our WTshow at CeBIT. The T.Jacket system connects child, parent and therapist and monitors activities and pressure levels remotely in real-time and applies remote pressure if needed. By using deep pressure therapy a sensory-based intervention often used by occupational therapists to assist individuals with sensory processing difficulties, the jacket can help children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to feel more comfortable.
Another helpful tool is the WatchMinder. It was developed by a child psychologist who specializes in attention and learning disorders. The WatchMinder allows users to create discreet cues throughout the day and remind them to perform specific tasks, and modify or reinforce specific behaviors. Children with ADHD and their parents and teachers can for example use the WatchMinder to manage their medication regiments throughout the school day.
Save and Sound
There are also several locators for children on the market right now, like these backpacks from i-Safe. Speaking of backpacks: USA today reported on the success of armored backpacks in the US.
Evado Filip has developed a wristwatch for children that has voice, text and location capability. Not only can parents locate their children on a map using a smartphone app, but parents and children can make a voice call to each other at any time. The parent can control all the features of the wristwatch using a smartphone app, including specifying the five numbers that the child can call.
For really Little Ones
For Babies there are also some great developments. For example pacifiers with an integrated thermometer for continuous temperature readings, like the one from Vicks.
In 2011 Philips also came up with a special blanket for babies with integrated blue LEDs. Evidently, hyperbilirubinemia (neonatal jaundice) affects 60% of full-term infants and 90% of premature babies. It can be cured with phototherapy and with the new blanket approach from Philips; and it is comfortable for the baby and parents.
Another interesting development comes from the startup Rest Devices. The company developed an onesie monitor called Peeko. They coupled their core respiration sensing technology, also used in their sleep shirt for grown-ups, with real-time data streaming and customizable alerts to ensure that parents know their baby is breathing and healthy while they sleep.
Do you know any other WT product specially great for children? Contact us.
