Artefact bracelet enables cash transfers via fist bump
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From tracking our steps each day, to monitoring our sleep at night, wearable technology has provided new ways to improve our health.
But instead of monitoring our fitness, what if similar technology could monitor our finances?
That's what a group of Seattle-based designers wanted to find out with their latest project, dubbed Token.
This animation shows how the concept Token wristband could help a wearer monitor and control their finances
The group came up with a concept wristband that lets the wearer know when their spending has got out of hand.
It also allows the wearer to transfer funds to friends and family using a simple 'fist bump' action.
Mock-ups of the design suggest the Token wristband would work as a type of FitBit for finance, by offering a complete analysis of the wearer's spending habits.
Seattle-based designers, Artefact, have come up with a concept wristband that lets the wearer know when their spending has exceeded their budget
Pictured are concept models of the device which would monitor the wearer's finances and spending habits
The Token device allows the wearer to transfer funds to friends and family using a simple 'fist bump' action
The Artefact studio envisions the device could replace plastic credit cards, which can be easily lost or stolen, Bloomberg Businessweek reports.
Unlike a credit card, the touchscreen device features a security mechanism based on the wearer's thumbprint, and a PIN or password making it useless if stolen.
'Token is contextually aware of a merchant's Wi-Fi and can receive product information and transmit payment details with the touch of a finger,' the company explained on its website.
It can also send special offers direct to the customer, as well as show them some of the negative outcomes of their shopping choices.
The device can send special offers direct to the customer, as well as show them some of the negative outcomes of their shopping choices
Token is aware of a merchant's Wi-Fi and can receive product information and transmit payment details
Unlike a credit card, the touchscreen device features a security mechanism based on the wearer's thumbprint, plus a PIN or password, making it useless if stolen
BARCLAYS WRISTBAND LETS USERS PAY WITH A SWISH OF THEIR ARM
Barclays has developed a wristband that will allow wearers to pay for a morning coffee as well as their daily commute.
Wearers swipe the bands, which can be worn 24 hours a day, over a terminal at a shop or pay point on the bus or station platform to make a purchase.
The bPay are rubberised and waterproof bands, which contain a computer chip and micro-aerial to communicate with terminals, have the security benefit that they are less likely to be lost or stolen than a wallet or purse.
The bPay bands have been trialled to the public at events such as the British Summer Time Music Festival and London Pride, where they can be used to gain entry and buy food and drink.
However, they are now moving into the mainstream so that they can be used at any one of around 300,000 till terminals in the UK – many in coffee shops and newsagents - that already work with contactless debit cards.
The designers even envision Token using data from the wearer's shopping list to guide them through supermarket aisles.
'All the moving parts are there,' Artefact Design Director Craig Erickson told Bloomberg Businessweek, 'but no one's assembled them yet in this fashion.'
He added there are no plans to turn the concept into reality, as it would require an infrastructure for transferring money from banks directly to vendors.
Instead, he said the concept is a way for people to rethink the focus of wearables and how it could help monitor different areas of our lives.
'Just because [wearables] are on our bodies and can really help us understand ourselves, we should not limit their applications to health, wellness and the Quantified Self,' the company said.
'Wearables could provide us with new, easier and better ways to interact with our environment, the products and services we are using and the people we are connected to.
'The unique security mechanism that we incorporated in Token opens a range of possibilities for exciting new experiences across industries and services.'
There are currently no plans to turn the concept into reality, as it would require an infrastructure for transferring money from banks directly to vendors
With the Token concept device, wearers can remotely transfer and accept funds to their friends and family
The designers even envision Token using data from the wearer's shopping list to guide them through supermarket aisles
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