They’ve invented nearly every crazy invention we’ve featured on Future Tech and the Japanese have outdone themselves this time with the E-Money Band for joggers everywhere.
Remember the days when jogging meant running at full pelt in ill-fitting garments in the pouring rain? These days, if you’re not squeezing into skin-tight under armour, you’re logging your run into your iPhone or even your athletic runners before you head off. Japanese company Hashy Top-In are taking modern-day jogging to the next level with their jogging companion product: the E-Money Band.
Unlike the new-fangled ‘energy bracelet’ phenomenon athletes everywhere seem to be subscribing their success to, the E-money Band actually works – the silicon band doubles as electronic money while you’re out for a run and naturally, can’t carry cash.
According to Hashy Top-In, users of the band can load up their wristband with up to the equivalent of €440 (¥50,000) by using at Japanese stores and other places that use Edy technology, a prepaid rechargeable contactless smart card.
All joggers need to do is tap the band’s center piece against the Edy reader installed at supermarkets to pay. The wristbands themselves cost just the equivalent of €26 and Edy readers are available in thousands of department stores and supermarkets across Japan.
So how long until we see a similar e-money bracelet on our shores? Don’t hold your breath. Although 3V Visa Cards have came to Ireland, we think it’ll be quite some time when enough demands builds up for similar Edy reader in our local Spar or Supervalus to facilitate such an innovation. Although the idea of running so hard we need to stock up on ice cold refreshments at a nearby shop throught he use of a wristband sounds excellent, sadly it appears to be a privilege enjoyed by our Eastern friends only for now.
The official website for the E-Money Band can be found here. A demonstration of how the device works is below:
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