New wearable smart toy makes sound effects, looks like slap bracelet

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Remember those old slap bracelets that everyone played with when they were kids? Well, watch what happens when one of those is crossed with the inner workings of a smartwatch.

The result is a toy that's going on sale just in time for the holidays.

Just about anyone can play air guitar but when it actually sounds like a guitar, crowds start to gather.

Japan resident Aki Takahagi showed off his new invention, the Moff Band.

"This is a Moff Band. It's a wearable smart toy," Takahagi says.

On the inside, it's a high-tech Bluetooth device. On the outside, it's an old-fashioned slap bracelet.

Once it's strapped on, the wearer can make all sorts of sounds come out of their iPhone or iPod just by moving their hands.

"Guitar, samurai sword, ninja, tennis player, baseball," Takahagi says, naming a few of the sound options.

The $55 device comes in one color -- orange. "Go Giants!" Takahagi adds.

Moff Band may connect to a smartphone, but if played with in the real world, its makers say that it makes it a lot different from a video game and it gets kids up off the couch.

It can take kids a few seconds to get the hang of it but when they catch on, their imagination takes over.

"And you can cook, chop..." Takahagi says.

"She loves cooking anyway, but I don't let her use a knife. So she can use it to chop her own play vegetables," one mother says of her daughter.

Younger kids tend to go for the animal sounds.

"She's very energetic with it. I think it's a good toy," one father says while watching his daughter play with a Moff Band.

It's a toy its makers hope will never become boring because they'll release new sound effects for it almost every week, including seasonal ones.

Two Moff Bands can be used with the same phone, and it pairs well with the living room stereo system.

"Start our own band, huh?" one tester suggests.