CES: Child’s play: FiLIP shows smart wristwear for kids

Amid the hype surrounding wearable technology at CES, wristwear has received special attention and its own dedicated space on the trade show floor. But FiLIP is the only product in the category designed to be worn by children, and managed from parents’ smartphones.

FiLIP lets parents see their children’s location, and enables children to call and receive calls from up to five numbers. It comes in a range of bright colours. The idea was to make a product that is not simply a tracking device, but something that children can enjoy, introducing them to mobile functionality without exposing them to risks too soon.

‘We wanted kids to use it, and on the wrist is fun,’ Filip Technologies COO Huw Medcraft tells LS:N Global. ‘They did a survey in the US about a year ago and it said that the majority of parents would not give their children a smartphone until they were 12 or 13 years old. But they did want to stay connected.’

Parents can also set up ‘safe zones’ and receive alerts when children enter and leave them. Of course, children could cheat the system, affix FiLIP to, say, the family dog, and run off. ‘But then they wouldn’t be able to call their friends,’ says Medcraft.

For more on how the latest generation of digital natives is engaging with technology, read our Generation I macrotrend.