The Pokémon Company is exploring future integration possibilities with smart device technology, including wearables such as smartwatches, smart glasses, and smart rings. This direction was indicated by President and CEO Tsunekazu Ishihara during a panel at the inaugural PokémonXP event in San Francisco. Ishihara noted that the company's approach to companion accessories has evolved since the advent of smartphones.
"In the past, these gadgets or companion accessories [like the Pokéwalker and Pokémon GO Plus] were kind of like these cool secret weapons you could pull out of your pocket and do something really cool with," Ishihara stated during the "Producing Pokémon: A Conversation with Mr. Ishihara" panel. "but today I was thinking, going forward, maybe a challenge for us is going to be figuring out how we can integrate Pokémon more with some of the wearable technology."
This outlook follows the recent reveal of the Fitbit Sense 2 Special Edition Pokémon Sleep, a health tracker designed to connect with the Pokémon Sleep app, which gamifies sleep by allowing users to collect Pokémon based on their sleep patterns. Ishihara, who also founded Creatures Inc. and has been involved with the franchise since its inception, expressed a continued passion for handheld gadgets and toys. He hopes The Pokémon Company will consistently create new and exciting forms of play that resonate with people across future generations.