- Convincing kids to hand over their tablets and game controllers to go out and play is no easy task.
- But Bandai Namco’s Vital Hero watches could make fitness more appealing to them.
- Children will be able to improve their digital monster through daily missions that require various activities such as: walks, sprints, squats.
Convince the children to hand over their tablets and controllers of games to go out and play is not an easy task, but the clocks Vital Hero by Bandai Namco they could make fitness more attractive to them.
But didn’t there already exist a Digimon Tamagochi?
While the iconic Tamagotchi is all about raising and caring for a virtual pet through diligent feeding, cleaning, and playtime, Bandai’s Digimon took the approach popularized by Pokémonwhere the responsibility of caring for a digital monster is reward with increased strength and occasional evolutions. which make them more capable in battles.
The Vital Hero it’s basically one of those pocket Digimon virtual pet toys combined with a wearable fitness tracker. The monochrome pixelated LCD screens of yesteryear have been replaced by a vertically oriented full color LED displayand while the device still has buttons, the only way to improve the digital monster’s stats is through daily quests that require kids to perform various activities like: walks, sprints, squats, and even a round of shadow boxing, all tracked through the wearable’s built-in heart rate and motion sensors.
The more active a child is, the faster their digital monster’s stats will improve, increasing your chances of victory when it comes to random battles against other monsters. If they lose, they have to keep facing the same monster over and over again until a victory allows them to continue, providing an added incentive to be active.
The Vital Hero is not the first attempt to gamify fitness trackers
Kids can also battle friends with a Vital Hero using a “dim card” included that physically connects to your portable device like a USB flash drive and transfers your monster to a friend’s device.
But battles can also be deliberately triggered at any time by touching the wearable against any NFC-equipped device, such as a smartphone or payment terminal – an approach that sounds similar to gaming. Barcode Battler from the early ’90s that had kids randomly scanning barcodes for power-ups and unlockable characters.
The Vital Hero not the first attempt gamify fitness trackers in an attempt to make children more active. But evolving an animated digital monster that can battle other monsters right on your wrist certainly sounds more compelling than chasing a new high score or unlocking prizes and trophies in a connected app.
The Vital Hero is available starting today on Amazon with a blue or black band for $65, while a version with a red band is currently exclusive to Walmart.
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