Although cell phones are not the ideal accessory for the beach, La Roche-Posay has created new features for their scannable UV patches according to The Star. A new app builds on their original My UV Patch that was released last year. The hope is that kids will like the gaming aspect of checking in on their patches, especially since animated characters will reward them.

The game will feature two cartoon characters for kids to play with, with the character’s receiving points to unlock prizes each time children scan the wearable to check that they are sun safe. In addition, the app also allows you to track the UV levels of multiple people, meaning parents can now keep track of the whole family for a safer summer holiday.

The current color changing heart patch uses photo-oxidized dyes to relate UV protection. So, the wearer must apply sunscreen to the patch as well as their skin to get the most accurate reading; the app considers location and time of day. It’s fine for active sports like swimming and will last up to five days. You can check the company’s Anthelios sunscreen products for free samples of the patch. If you would rather keep things off your skin, you can always build a Sunscreen Reminder Hat following our learning guide. You just need to use a FLORA Arduino with its matching UV Index Sensor and a piezo. The musical tune will warn you before you are well done—have fun protecting your skin with DIY tech!

Every Wednesday is Wearable Wednesday here at Adafruit! We’re bringing you the blinkiest, most fashionable, innovative, and useful wearables from around the web and in our own original projects featuring our wearable Arduino-compatible platform, FLORA. Be sure to post up your wearables projects in the forums or send us a link and you might be featured here on Wearable Wednesday!