Okay, I can stretch and make this about health and wellness. Happiness is an important part of being healthy, right? So if you have some wearable technology that keeps kids happy, that’s a good thing. But what the heck! I’ve included the Skechers Game Kicks in my CES 2015 coverage because they’re just plain fun.
There’s not a lot to the story. Remember the old Simon game where you had to tap buttons to match a pattern? I suppose it was educational; it helped build short term memory and hand-eye coordination. (Hmmm… I still seem to be trying to justify this product.) Well, Game Kicks are shoes that have a Simon-style game built in. They come in styles for girls and boys. Four colored buttons light up in a sequence, and you have to tap them in the same sequence. There is a speaker that makes noise as you play, but (fortunately) this can be turned off. Boys get buttons shaped like colored blocks; girls get little flowers instead.
Aside from being an elementary classroom teacher’s worst nightmare, these Game Kicks look like a lot of fun, and might well keep the little tykes occupied, at least until their old enough to have a smartphone of their own to provide more grown-up sources of distraction.
