This Wristband Will Give You an Electric Shock if You go Into Your Overdraft

Wristband to Control Overspending

Individuals with a weakness of overspending can now have a saviour in the form of a wristband which tends to help in breaking this bad habit. A British company in partnership with Pavlok tends to give users electric shocks in helping them to break this bad habit of overspending, triggering the device when users seem to be spending too much money. The £120 device which would be in operation toward the end of the year was invented by finance technology company Intelligent Environments which identifies overspending in a user’s bank account connecting it to Pavlok to send them a shock or Nest, the smart thermostat of Google to turn down their heating.

David Webber, chief executive of Intelligent Environments had stated that `this is all about giving customers the option to control how they tend to spend money’. Known as Interact IoT, users could set their spending limits and choose how they would like the program to respond. Should a user surpass their self-imposed limit of spending and their bank balance seems to drop below a pre-determined brink, the Interact IoT tends to drop the heating down to a temperature that has been pre-determined by the individual. Reducing the temperature of the heating by three degrees could save around £255 yearly, according to Intelligent Environments. A Google Nest device tends to cost about £200.

Fully Tested & Safe

The Pavlok was initially launched in 2014 to jolt users out of their bad habits like nail biting, over-sleeping and smoking. The makers of the wristband state, that the wristband has been fully tested and seems safe, claiming that the shock tends to cause a slightly uncomfortable feeling though no pains or burns. The wristband had been named after the Russian psychologist Ivan Pavlov who had worked with dogs to prove behaviour can be conditioned by rewards and punishments.

 It had been created by US internet entrepreneur Maneesh Sethi who had famously hired a woman to slap him every time he went on Facebook, at work. It is not known when the tool for the finance monitoring would be made available since it is up to the banks to choose to offer the services to their consumers. Software to banks and financial services companies which supports their mobile apps is provided by Intelligent Environments. Webber had mentioned that `they are the technology behind the Atom Bank which would be the first digital bank and all their customers seem to be interested in this capability’.

Device Linked to Customer’s Bank Account

Clients of the company comprise of the Bank of Ireland, Sainsbury’s Bank, Lloyd’s Bank and Toyota’s financial services business. Presently the software is available, though it will take around six months before the banks tend to offer it to their clients, if they decide to do so. Webber also informed that millennial believed that the new software was very thrilling and something they would certainly like to try. However, older people aged 50 and above seemed to be cautious.Liviu Itoafa, security researcher at Kaspersky Lab had stated that the device seems to link to a customers’ bank account which could be easy for cybercriminals to access bank details.

 Itoafa also cautioned that the company would have to ensure that it had secured the connection between the devices and the bank accounts. The Telegraph had been assured by Intelligent Environments that it had taken the security of the invention rather seriously and that there was no chance of logging on the banking information of the user, through it. Webber has informed that it is totally secure and that there is absolutely no financial or personal information passing into the devices

Wrist Band Device for Alcohol Monitoring Wins U.S. Prize

BACrack Wins U.S. Prize for Alcohol Monitoring Device

A U.S. government competition has been won by BACrack, a San Francisco-based company with an alcohol monitoring device which can be worn on the wrist, a latest milestone in the progress of wearable technologies that tends to monitor as well as diagnose medical conditions. The company which is a privately held medical device manufacturer, had taken the top prize of $200,00 in the National Institutes of Health – NIH, Wearable Biosensor Challenge recently with its wristband monitor that tends to measure blood alcohol levels through sweat on the skin.

 The said product named as BACrack Skyn has not been submitted to the Food and Drug Administration yet for marketing approval. The head of the NIH’s National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Dr George Koob had stated that he expected the device to be a valuable resource for alcohol research community.

He further added that it could help doctors to precisely measure the drinking history of a patient and not just depend on the most recent test which could help a lot with the treatment. Medical, law enforcement as well as transportation officials have pursued improved technology in detecting blood alcohol levels. The traditional PBTs – portable breath alcohol testers are heavy, costing over $1,000 and does not provide on-going monitoring of alcohol levels.

Blood Alcohol Monitoring Devices – Big & Bulky

The president of BACrack, Keith Nothacker, had informed that the blood alcohol monitoring devices that have been used in legal and medical circles seems to be big and bulky, similar to a ball and chain for the ones utilising it and that they wanted to make something which people would want to wear.

In its present form, the device though will not be an alternative for breathalysers or blood tests utilised by law enforcement since the device does not offer real-time blood alcohol levels. It has been mentioned by Nothacker that it takes around 45 minutes for ethanol to be transmitted through the skin and the device has been designed to offer a recent history of alcohol usage.

The company had been experimenting with consumer-centric alcohol testing for many years and in 2013 had introduced the BACrack Mobile Breathalyser which syncs with the smartphone in order to track blood alcohol content. BACrack had competed with seven other smaller companies and had won the NIH competition.

Skyn Cannot Replace Breathalysers

A Santa Barbara based technology start-up, Milo, had won the $100,000 second-place prize for its design for a wearable alcohol content tracker which tends to also use skin sensor and links with a smartphone, using wireless technology. Skyn, it is said cannot replace breathalysers which the cops tend to use, since it takes 45 minutes for the alcohol to be transmitted through the skin.

 However, authorities or researchers could utilise it to monitor constantly someone’s BAC levels. The device can alert you, if one has been drinking too much particularly if one intends to drive. Moreover, it could also notify member of a family if it senses alcohol in your system while one is supposed to be on a mission for abstinence.

Though the company has not submitted Skyn to the FDA for approval yet, according to Reuters, BACrack state that it would be releasing a restricted amount this fourth quarter. One could sign up on the company’s website to get notification whenever the wearable would be ready for pre-order.