Kolibree ‘gamifies’ its smart electric toothbrush

LAS VEGAS — Some kids don’t like brushing their teeth. So France’s Kolibree came up with a connected smart electric toothbrush that trains them how to do it properly.

It announced the toothbrush last year, and now it has a couple of apps that “gamify” brushing, or use game mechanics to motivate people to do something they wouldn’t ordinarily do. It’s another sign of how the so-called “Internet of Things” — turning everyday objects into connected devices — continues to march into our homes.

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Dean Takahashi

Dean Takahashi is editorial director for GamesBeat. He has been a tech journalist since 1988, and he has covered games as a beat since 1996. He was lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat from 2008 to April 2025. Prior to that, he wrote for the San Jose Mercury News, the Red Herring, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, and the Dallas Times-Herald. He is the author of two books, "Opening the Xbox" and "The Xbox 360 Uncloaked." He organizes the annual GamesBeat Next, GamesBeat Summit and GamesBeat Insider Series: Hollywood and Games conferences and is a frequent speaker at gaming and tech events. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.