Financial transactions have grown increasingly abstract, encouraging wasteful and unwise purchasing habits. Researchers at the MIT Media lab have invented three different wallets - the Bumblebee, the Peacock and the Mother Bear - to help shoppers save money。
The Bumblebee wallet contains a vibrating motor that buzzes whenever the owner's bank account has a transaction. The length and pattern of the buzzes correspond with different kinds of transactions. The Peacock wallet expands and contracts depending on how much money is in a bank account。
The Mother Bear, which contains a hinge inside that is connected to a bank account and can be programmed to respond to a monthly financial goal. When money gets tighter, the hinge makes the wallet harder to open, creating a meaningful reminder to stay on target。
All these three wallets are sturdy enough to survive being sat upon. Each one utilizes a mobile platform called Hands and Fingers. The "fingers" are microprocessors that are embedded in the wallets while the "hands" are the corresponding software that runs on a mobile phone. The wallets communicate using Bluetooth。