And the award for cutest wearable goes to… Moff! A smart bangle for kids that’s being developed by — you guessed it — a Japanese company (such kawaii) on a mission to transform boring everyday objects into toys with sound effects.
The Moff wearable is a slap band — i.e. no need to fiddle with fastenings; you just slap it against your wrist and it wraps around. The band then links up to an iOS device via Bluetooth 4.0 to allow for different sound effects to be chosen via the corresponding Moff app. (An Android app is apparently also in the works).
The band contains accelerometers and gyros so it can sense a range of movements of the Moff wearer and translate them into sounds. Such as an air guitar strum, a magic wand twirl, a toy gun recoil, and so on.
The band contains an exchangeable coin battery that’s apparently good for 30 hours of gesture-based play.
Moff’s creators have taken to Kickstarter to raise $20,000 to turn their working sound effect producing prototype into the stuff of kids’ dreams. They’ve raised more than $8,300 so far, with 29 days left on their funding period.
They are also planning an SDK and an app store where developers will be able to sell apps for Moff users, or use its sensing platform by connecting it to an existing app to extend its functionality by adding a gesture interface.
Moff’s makers have also clearly got their eye on bringing branded cartoon content to their kid-focused platform, noting on the Kickstarter campaign page:
For companies that have content or characters (including sounds and voices), you can offer them in our app store, as your own apps or materials for users’ customization. Moff will extend the possibilities of your own content and characters, and you will get more fans worldwide.
How much will Moff cost? It’s currently priced at $45 for one band for early-bird backers, rising to $49 once all those pledges are gone. The estimated ship date for Moff is this July.