Gululu Go
© 2018 Bowhead Technology, Inc.
Can you turn drinking from a water bottle into a game? Gululu Go is one attempt. The water bottle/app/charger is designed to track how much you drink, although our tester (age 12) found it "complicated to setup and use" and, despite a lot of trying "wasn’t impressed." The built in software links drinking with care for a virtual pet. The more you drink, the more coins you earn and the more your pet grows. As children drink more water from their bottle, their chosen virtual pet grows and makes friends. At the same time, the bottle's app link parents informed of their children’s hydration progress through a connected smartphone app. A built in speaker allows the Gululu pets to talk to children, with 200 phrases. Children can redeem accessories for their pets with the virtual coins collected along their journey of discovering the Gululu Universe. Testers make the following observations: • In general, the set up and interface of the bottle and the app — and the communication between the two — is too complicated for kids to understand. • It’s a proprietary connection cable that would make the bottle useless if you lose it. • The touch sensors on the bottle don’t always work. • Many features don’t work without WiFi, which would make it less useful at school, outside or other places away from home. • The quietest volume setting is still too loud for places like school. • Kids would have to use parent’s phone to watch how-to videos and find necessary information on the app. They would also need to be able to read. • The bottle screen interface (icons and navigation) are unclear. Parents asked: "How washable is it considering all the electronics inside?" and "does it know if there’s actually water in it? Can you cheat by just turning over an empty bottle?" Invented by Bowhead Technology. Learn more at www.gululu.com.
$120, iPad, iPhone, Android
Teaches: heath, hydration
CTR Rating: 55%