An app-enabled toothbrush has kids addicted

The Internet of toothbrushes is here: Philips Sonicare released an electronic device that makes oral hygiene fun for kids, forcing them to stay on top of it and maybe even become a little addicted.

Released at the end of August 2015, an app turns the Bluetooth-enabled toothbrush into a controller for a game, featuring fuzzy creatures called Sparklys. The game earns kids points for brushing each of the four quadrants of their mouth for two-minutes at a time, the standard recommended by dentists. After they earn their points, children can upgrade, customize their colors, or feed their Sparklys.

“If you remember the Tamagotchi, it's a little bit like that,” said Boon Lai, VP of marketing for Philips Health and Wellness, referring to the digital pet toy that was all the rage in the '90s.

As it turns out, children couldn’t take their eyes away from the app and wanted to continue playing with their fuzzing Sparkly, even after they had finished brushing.

“Because they love the game and they interacted so much with the app, they didn’t go to bed right away,” said Lai, a nine-year veteran at Philips.

In response, the app was altered so Sparkly topples over in exhaustion soon after brushing is concluded. Developing the new product and updating it has been responsive to quantitative data, as well as qualitative feedback from parents.

“We can actually learn a lot through the data and analysis about how consumers interact with our product,” said Lai.

While Philips isn’t the first to develop a data-gathering toothbrush, they are investing in Internet of Things technology to meet consumer product mainstream.

Up next: a connected toothbrush set for adults. Whether it will make use of a gaming app is still to be determined. “It's still a work in progress,” Lai said. Stay tuned.

Via Gizmodo