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Japan’s wearable smart toy Moff gets $2.7M to make entry into healthcare business

Takeshi Hirano Takeshi Hirano
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See the original story in Japanese. Japan’s Moff, developing wearable sensor devices / services, last week announced that it has succeeded in fundraising in order to promote a platform for health / exercise / rehabilitation field utilizing its sensor. This time, the firm fundraised a total of 300 million yen (about $2.7 million) from Energy & Environment Investment, Mitsubishi Research Institute (MRI) and Tsuneishi Capital Partners. The platform for rehabilitation use currently under development is a system to encourage health enhancement, care prevention and preventive medicine mainly targeting the elderly, by distributing content linked to body motions detected by the wearable sensor on user wrists. Moff and one of the investors, MRI, had last December already agreed to a capital / business tie-up regarding utilization of the Moff devices in care prevention / rehabilitation field for the elderly. it should be noted that the fundraising this time and that of last December are the same. The concept of Moff was first revealed in February of 2014. Subsequent fundraising from Bandai Namco and others in September occurred the following year, and the firm has been expanding its services to “intellect training” or gamification fields. According to CEO of Moff Akinori Takahagi,…

Moff Band – capable of detecting body motion by mounted gyro sensors and sending it to smart device
Image credit: Moff

See the original story in Japanese.

Japan’s Moff, developing wearable sensor devices / services, last week announced that it has succeeded in fundraising in order to promote a platform for health / exercise / rehabilitation field utilizing its sensor. This time, the firm fundraised a total of 300 million yen (about $2.7 million) from Energy & Environment Investment, Mitsubishi Research Institute (MRI) and Tsuneishi Capital Partners.

The platform for rehabilitation use currently under development is a system to encourage health enhancement, care prevention and preventive medicine mainly targeting the elderly, by distributing content linked to body motions detected by the wearable sensor on user wrists.

Moff and one of the investors, MRI, had last December already agreed to a capital / business tie-up regarding utilization of the Moff devices in care prevention / rehabilitation field for the elderly. it should be noted that the fundraising this time and that of last December are the same.

The concept of Moff was first revealed in February of 2014. Subsequent fundraising from Bandai Namco and others in September occurred the following year, and the firm has been expanding its services to “intellect training” or gamification fields. According to CEO of Moff Akinori Takahagi, as its business basis has become gradually established, the firm decided to proceed to the next stage – health enhancement business for the elderly with the “2025 problem (the aging population problems in Japan which will become serious by 2025)” in the backdrop.

Takahagi looks forward the demand from the healthcare field:

In addition to Moff for children or packaged products with educational materials for nursery schools and kindergartens, we had promoted research and development focusing on healthcare for about a year.

As the “2025 problem” will become serious, one in five Japanese will become a late-stage elderly (75 years and over) and the reduction in the burden of nursing care as to manpower will be called for strongly.

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Image of the elderly healthcare platform
Image credit: Moff

Details of the service will be disclosed a little bit later, but I could take a look at the demo in advance. It appeared that the human motion was digitalized when  rehabilitation training took place, by putting the well-known Moff Band on the wrist.

Body motions cannot be easily visualized. By entrusting such devices or apps to determine whether the correct movement is achieved or not, users can freely take on the cycle of health enhancement tasks while at home alone. Takahagi explained the aim of the service thus.

The firm much stressed the number of users willing to pay the monthly fees for apps or services through hardware products in its business model. Unlike conventional services for child users, a completely different future is expected in the business for the elderly. It is interesting as to what kind of business growth the firm will see.

Translated by Taijiro Takeda
Edited by “Tex” Pomeroy

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Japan’s Moff Band wearable smart-toy lets you play Pac-Man with your body motion

Junya Mori Junya Mori
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See the original story in Japanese. Tokyo-based Moff, offering a wearable smart toy Moff Band, showcased a preview of ‘Pac-Man Powered by Moff’ to be launched this spring, jointly developed with Japan’s major game developer, Bandai Namco Entertainment (TSE:7832). This preview is given this week at CES 2016 in Las Vegas. This is the first app by Moff based on its gamified fitness platform. This preview version allows users wearing the Moff Band connected with Bluetooth to play Pac-Man remotely. For the official version, fitness elements will be added, while the basic game design of Pac-Man where players evade ghosts or eat power-cookies will be kept. The launch of the game at this time, which is associated with the well-known Pac-Man character, should boost Moff’s name recognition in the US. The app was developed through a cooperative business arrangement between the two companies, subsequent to Bandai Namco Entertainment’s investment in Moff last September. Moff CEO Akinori Takahagi said: PAC-MAN Powered by Moff brings a brand-new user experience, while allowing enjoyment of games from olden days and exercising actively for families including children. Our aim is to build new relationships between families and wearable technologies by leveraging our gamified fitness technology…

PAC-MAN-Powered-by-Moff-620x259

See the original story in Japanese.

Tokyo-based Moff, offering a wearable smart toy Moff Band, showcased a preview of ‘Pac-Man Powered by Moff’ to be launched this spring, jointly developed with Japan’s major game developer, Bandai Namco Entertainment (TSE:7832). This preview is given this week at CES 2016 in Las Vegas. This is the first app by Moff based on its gamified fitness platform.

This preview version allows users wearing the Moff Band connected with Bluetooth to play Pac-Man remotely. For the official version, fitness elements will be added, while the basic game design of Pac-Man where players evade ghosts or eat power-cookies will be kept.

The launch of the game at this time, which is associated with the well-known Pac-Man character, should boost Moff’s name recognition in the US. The app was developed through a cooperative business arrangement between the two companies, subsequent to Bandai Namco Entertainment’s investment in Moff last September.

Moff CEO Akinori Takahagi said:

PAC-MAN Powered by Moff brings a brand-new user experience, while allowing enjoyment of games from olden days and exercising actively for families including children. Our aim is to build new relationships between families and wearable technologies by leveraging our gamified fitness technology through cooperation with leading companies in the entertainment field.

See also:

Translated by Taijiro Takeda
Edited by Kurt Hanson and “Tex” Pomeroy

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  1. Japan’s wearable smart toy Moff gets $2.7M to make entry into healthcare business
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  3. Japan’s smart-toy startup Moff ties up with PBS KIDS, launches learning app in US

Japan’s smart-toy startup Moff ties up with PBS KIDS, launches learning app in US

Junya Mori Junya Mori
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See the original story in Japanese. Tokyo-based Moff, offering a wearable smart toy called Moff Band, has made a further progress in North America, followed by fundraising 1.6 million yen (about $1.3 million) from Japanese gaming giant Bandai Namco Entertainment (TSE:3832), mobile gaming developer Orso, investment company TomyK, and other angel investors in September. Moff recently announced the launch of its first intellectual training app called PBS KIDS Party, jointly developed with America’s major educational media brand PBS KIDS. Connecting with Moff Band, Moff’s flagship smart bracelet device, the new app allows users to play games such as freeze dance, Piñata burst or countdown to launch a rocket by swinging their arm. It’s an educational content developed as a compilation of PBS KIDS’ knowledge on creating learning content and Moff’s product offering gamification experience through the connected smart device. Upon launch of the new app, Moff CEO Akinori Takahagi made the following comment: While this partnership gives us a number of merits, the most significant part of it is that we could create the content considering the cultural background and characteristics of the US. Thanks to PBS KIDS taking on all tasks in the content creation, we were able to…

pbs-kids-party_featuredimage

See the original story in Japanese.

Tokyo-based Moff, offering a wearable smart toy called Moff Band, has made a further progress in North America, followed by fundraising 1.6 million yen (about $1.3 million) from Japanese gaming giant Bandai Namco Entertainment (TSE:3832), mobile gaming developer Orso, investment company TomyK, and other angel investors in September. Moff recently announced the launch of its first intellectual training app called PBS KIDS Party, jointly developed with America’s major educational media brand PBS KIDS.

moff
Moff Band

Connecting with Moff Band, Moff’s flagship smart bracelet device, the new app allows users to play games such as freeze dance, Piñata burst or countdown to launch a rocket by swinging their arm. It’s an educational content developed as a compilation of PBS KIDS’ knowledge on creating learning content and Moff’s product offering gamification experience through the connected smart device.

Upon launch of the new app, Moff CEO Akinori Takahagi made the following comment:

While this partnership gives us a number of merits, the most significant part of it is that we could create the content considering the cultural background and characteristics of the US. Thanks to PBS KIDS taking on all tasks in the content creation, we were able to focus on engineering and technology development. Using the app, children can learn with their familiar characters under the highly-reputed mega brand, which gives them and their parents a sense of security.

In the joint app development process between Japan and the US, he said that his team had been struggling upon communication due to language barriers and time difference but they appointed a bilingual project manager to surmount these issues.

Takahagi then elaborated his plan and prospect for the future:

We will continue developing more intellectual training apps. Compared to passive desultory viewing of displayed content, inculcation utilizing gestures will better benefit kids. Since wearable devices are becoming more commonplace, we foresee a huge demand from content holders. Looking ahead, we want to explore more partnerships with various businesses.

See also:

Translated by Taijiro Takeda
Edited by “Tex” Pomeroy and Masaru Ikeda

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Japan’s wearable smart-toy startup Moff raises $1.3M to expand to new markets

Junya Mori Junya Mori
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See the original story in Japanese. Tokyo-based Moff, the Japanese startup developing sensor-embedded wearable smart-toy Moff Band, announced today that it has fundraised 160 million yen ($1.3 million) from Japanese gaming giant Bandai Namco Entertainment (TSE:3832), mobile gaming developer Orso, investment company TomyK, and other angel investors. Since its launch in October 2013, the company has fundraised 210 million yen. Moff began selling the Moff Band device on Amazon.com last fall, attracting many users in Japan and the US. The device adopts the company’s original posture recognition and data analysis technologies, while the company has been planning and developing the active gamification platform that converts actions into user experiences such as emitting a sound based on a user’s action. Moff will use the funds to strengthen its structure to focus on developing the gamification platform, users’ action- and activity-based analysis technologies using artificial intelligence and machine learning, as well as business development with partnering companies. Coinciding with the funds, Moff established a wholly-owned subsidiary called Moff USA in the US. Albert Chu, former vice president of Apple, AT&T, and Access, was named as CEO of the US subsidiary for business development in the US. In a previous interview with The…

moff

See the original story in Japanese.

Tokyo-based Moff, the Japanese startup developing sensor-embedded wearable smart-toy Moff Band, announced today that it has fundraised 160 million yen ($1.3 million) from Japanese gaming giant Bandai Namco Entertainment (TSE:3832), mobile gaming developer Orso, investment company TomyK, and other angel investors. Since its launch in October 2013, the company has fundraised 210 million yen.

Moff began selling the Moff Band device on Amazon.com last fall, attracting many users in Japan and the US. The device adopts the company’s original posture recognition and data analysis technologies, while the company has been planning and developing the active gamification platform that converts actions into user experiences such as emitting a sound based on a user’s action.

Moff will use the funds to strengthen its structure to focus on developing the gamification platform, users’ action- and activity-based analysis technologies using artificial intelligence and machine learning, as well as business development with partnering companies.

albert-b-chu-akinori-takahagi
From the left: Moff USA CEO Albert B. Chu, Moff CEO Akinori Takahagi

Coinciding with the funds, Moff established a wholly-owned subsidiary called Moff USA in the US. Albert Chu, former vice president of Apple, AT&T, and Access, was named as CEO of the US subsidiary for business development in the US.

In a previous interview with The Bridge, Moff CEO Akinori Takahagi said that there is huge potential for the smart-toy market in the US. Hence, the establishment of the US-based subsidiary is a natural move for the startup.

Moff said that they will focus on inventing gamified fitness solutions by developing sensor devices and the gamification platform, looking to expand beyond the smart-toy vertical to vaster markets.

Translated by Masaru Ikeda
Edited by Kurt Hanson

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Japan’s wearable smart-toy Moff raises nearly $80,000 on Kickstarter

Takeshi Hirano Takeshi Hirano
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See the original story in Japanese. Moff launched its Kickstarter campaign for its wearable wristbank smart-toy almost a month ago. The project nearly reached $80,000, four times its initial goal of $20,000. According to the product’s creator, Akinori Takahagi, they have even surpassed smart toy Ubooly (backed by TechStars) in funds raised on Kickstarter. Ubooly secured seed funding of about $2.5 million from several investors back in November, and recently started sales at Softbank stores in Japan. So the Moff team considers Ubooly the benchmark in their growth strategy. The team is working on many business opportunities. This includes developing content for the device and partnering with content holders with popular characters or mascots, and delivering the product as soon as possible. Moff was initially launched at a hackathon in Osaka last year, and we understand that they attracted much attention at SXSW in Austin. It will be interesting to see how their product is received by consumers beyond the Japanese market.

moff-on-kickstarter_featuredimage

See the original story in Japanese.

Moff launched its Kickstarter campaign for its wearable wristbank smart-toy almost a month ago. The project nearly reached $80,000, four times its initial goal of $20,000.

According to the product’s creator, Akinori Takahagi, they have even surpassed smart toy Ubooly (backed by TechStars) in funds raised on Kickstarter. Ubooly secured seed funding of about $2.5 million from several investors back in November, and recently started sales at Softbank stores in Japan. So the Moff team considers Ubooly the benchmark in their growth strategy.

The team is working on many business opportunities. This includes developing content for the device and partnering with content holders with popular characters or mascots, and delivering the product as soon as possible.

Moff was initially launched at a hackathon in Osaka last year, and we understand that they attracted much attention at SXSW in Austin. It will be interesting to see how their product is received by consumers beyond the Japanese market.

Related news

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  2. Japan’s wearable smart-toy startup Moff raises $1.3M to expand to new markets
  3. Japan’s smart-toy startup Moff ties up with PBS KIDS, launches learning app in US

Japan’s wearable smart-toy Moff launches Kickstarter campaign, already near goal

Rick Martin Rick Martin
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Yesterday we mentioned Japan-based OpenPool, an interactive billiards kit that’s currently raising funds on Kickstarter, coinciding with their exhibition at SXSW. There are a number of Japanese companies pushing their wares at the Austin conference, and another one is smart-toy maker Moff, who we spoke with earlier in the month. Like OpenPool, Moff has launched a Kickstarter campaign for its wearable wristband toy at SXSW, and as I write this, they’re almost at their fundraising goal, with more than $15,000 of their $20,000 goal raised. As part of their Kickstarter materials, Moff has laid out a development roadmap (see below) detailing plans to mass produce and ship their wristband this summer. Kickstarter backers who pitch in financially can get Moff wristbands as rewards, which certainly makes it worthwhile to support the project. If you’d like a more detailed overview of how Moff works, you can check out the Kickstarter promo video above.

Yesterday we mentioned Japan-based OpenPool, an interactive billiards kit that’s currently raising funds on Kickstarter, coinciding with their exhibition at SXSW. There are a number of Japanese companies pushing their wares at the Austin conference, and another one is smart-toy maker Moff, who we spoke with earlier in the month.

Like OpenPool, Moff has launched a Kickstarter campaign for its wearable wristband toy at SXSW, and as I write this, they’re almost at their fundraising goal, with more than $15,000 of their $20,000 goal raised.

As part of their Kickstarter materials, Moff has laid out a development roadmap (see below) detailing plans to mass produce and ship their wristband this summer.

Kickstarter backers who pitch in financially can get Moff wristbands as rewards, which certainly makes it worthwhile to support the project.

If you’d like a more detailed overview of how Moff works, you can check out the Kickstarter promo video above.

moff

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This wearable smart-toy from Japan brings limitless play possibilities

Junya Mori Junya Mori
SHARE:

See the original article in Japanese An intriguing smart-toy dubbed Moff officially launched here in Japan last week, getting attention from several media outlets leading up to its release. It’s a wearable wristband device that lets kids play using physical motion to create sound effects for any object they might be holding. You can get a better idea for how that works in the video below. Moff is developed by a team organized at a local hackathon event in Osaka. The team participated in last year’s SF Japan Night where they pitched their product. At that time, Moff was a toy that attached to other toys, but after making improvements, they turned it into a wearable device. Moff CEO Akinori Takahagi came up with the idea when he was examining the way kids play with toys: Kids get bored with new toys so quickly. And parents just repeat buying and throwing toys away. It’s a waste of money. To solve this issue, I came up with the idea for a device that lets kids play in many ways depending on their imagination. The Moff wristband connects to a smartphone or a tablet device through BLE. When Moff turns on, the…

moff

See the original article in Japanese

An intriguing smart-toy dubbed Moff officially launched here in Japan last week, getting attention from several media outlets leading up to its release. It’s a wearable wristband device that lets kids play using physical motion to create sound effects for any object they might be holding. You can get a better idea for how that works in the video below.

Moff is developed by a team organized at a local hackathon event in Osaka. The team participated in last year’s SF Japan Night where they pitched their product. At that time, Moff was a toy that attached to other toys, but after making improvements, they turned it into a wearable device.

Moff CEO Akinori Takahagi came up with the idea when he was examining the way kids play with toys:

Kids get bored with new toys so quickly. And parents just repeat buying and throwing toys away. It’s a waste of money. To solve this issue, I came up with the idea for a device that lets kids play in many ways depending on their imagination.

The Moff wristband connects to a smartphone or a tablet device through BLE. When Moff turns on, the app on the connected device generates sounds corresponding to the motion of your hand. It could be sound effects, voices, or background music. So for example, it could be the sound of a guitar, a ray gun, or even a even a Star Wars lightsaber.

Moff uses a three-axis accelerometer and gyroscope. These sensors recognize your physical motion and generate sound accordingly. Data is accumulated in the cloud, and the team hopes to utilize this data to improve the device’s precision and complex motion. They are also considering offering a SDK and making a developer´s platform.

The device is covered with silicon and its battery is said to last for about 40 to 50 hours, and can be replaced by the user if it wears out. The wrist band can be adjusted for various sizes.

製品カラーバリエーション2

Takahagi explained about the pricing:

We are thinking to make it around 3000 to 4000 yen (or about $30 to $40). Regarding production, we decided to outsource to a factory that develops BLE equipment in-house. Normal factories purchase BLE equipment and use it to create products, which increases their costs. But we can reduce costs by working with factories that make BLE equipment on their own. We aim to minimize the cost and charge for content like extra sounds within the app.

Moff plans to show their product at events in March and April, such as at Mobile World Congress and SXSW. The company plans to fundraise for development in March through crowdfunding. Their first production lot is scheduled to be available in July or August of this year.

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