Sunday, May 4, 2014

Veronica Jones: Wearable tech for kids coming from LeapFrog

I know we live in an age full of technology, but it's still odd seeing an elementary student walk down the street holding a smart phone. It's just a strange sight, because it feels like just yesterday that having a firefly was the coolest and owning a phone at all was rare. But now technology is moving much quicker than ever before and children's toys are struggling to keep up and LeapFrog seems to be leading the way. They now are making a wearable tablet band that essentially acts like and exercise tracker for children age 4 to 7. It has games, a movement tracker, and can connect to the internet so that parents can check their progress and change settings. It is scheduled to be released to the public in August.

It seems like an interesting idea, but I'm wondering how they are going to make it strong enough not only for children's play but also keeping it comfortably and securely on their arms. There is also the problem of the worry most parents will have about allowing their child to become addicted to technology (not that letting them toy with an iphone is any better). Either way, I guess we'll just have to see how this thing does and hope that it actually gets kids to exercise more.

link: http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/01/tech/gaming-gadgets/leapfrog-leapband-wearable-tech/index.html

2 comments:

  1. I agree! It's crazy seeing these little kids always with screens in front of them. I sound like an old man but when I was that age I loved to draw and look at books. I guess the times are-a-changin! And maybe for the better in some ways

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  2. That just seems like it would look ridiculous. Coming from a generation where playing outside used to be a way to get away from technology, to think that it will now travel with kids at all times is a bit saddening. I'm sure it has many advantages but I don't think I would want my child to have one.

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