Garmin and Disney’s vivofit jr. 2 fitness tracker for children will be released in Q4 2017. With the accompanying mobile app, kids can dive into the world of Disney, Star Wars, and Marvel and solve adventures.

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The world is big and the little ones want to discover a lot. In most cases, however, the children’s curiosity is limited to adventures in entertainment media rather than in going out and discovering the world.

A world full of fun, games, and fitness

The new vivofit jr. 2 fitness tracker offers kids the chance to combine both. Missions can be solved on the playground or even in the swimming pool, thanks to the waterproof nature of the tracker. Of course, they can do all this accompanied by their favourite characters from a given theme world.

The assigned tasks can be solved alone or with the child’s parents. When the children reach the day’s goal of 60 minutes of movement, they unlock new figure and step symbols, such as Minnie Mouse, BB-8, and Iron Man, so the adventure trail expands. With the Toe-to-Toe Steps Challenge, it’s possible to challenge nearby kids with a fitness tracker to a friendly timed contest.

“The goal of the vívofit jr. 2 fitness tracker is to make children’s fitness fun, so kids are excited by an active lifestyle at a young age,” explains Cliff Pemble, President and CEO of Garmin.

Adventurers are reminded of missions

The continuously active colour display shows the time and instructs the children to move or remain active by means of a movement bar. For the young adventurer, the fitness tracker can be equipped with a stretchy wrist band for a narrow wrist, or with an adjustable bracelet for the older kids. There’s no need for annoying battery-charging because the battery life lasts up to one year.

 Safety for parents

For parents, the app is also very useful. Parents can manage the free companion app, which allows them to keep an eye on the daily activities of their little adventurers. The adults can assign tasks that the children then see as symbols on the device. Homework, feeding the hamster, or brushing one’s teeth won’t be so easily forgotten, because Mama and Papa have an eye on things. The timetable signals help to remind children of their tasks. The task timer shows how much time remains for each mission.

Time with the family

If family members also own a Garmin device, multiple profiles can be created. This allows the competitors’ steps to be entered onto the leaders’ board, so the whole family can join in on the “sports fun”. Once a game mission has been successfully completed, the bracelet is replaced by a new one and a new adventure can be tackled.

“We are honoured to connect with the stories of Disney, Star Wars, and Marvel in this very special way, and to integrate the characters into our product and the mobile app in order to offer children and their parents a playful approach to fitness,” says Cliff Pemble.

“By combining Garmin’s know-how in wearable technologies and Disney’s storytelling, we are opening up a category that can influence the way kids stay active,” says Josh Silverman, Executive Vice President, Global Licensing, Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media.

The world of Disney

At Disney, licensed products are now an indispensable main source of income. Since Disney secured the Star Wars license in 2012, the merchandise business has been booming. The brand was purchased for 4.05 billion dollars and, as of 2015, has already generated more than 30 billion euros. The money isn’t made with the films, but mainly with the licensed products. The merchandise products for the Disney, Marvel, and Star Wars worlds are an important factor in the sales performance of this global player in the entertainment industry.

www.garmin.com/de

Image: Garmin Deutschland GmbH, Shutterstock

//JP