A wearable device is being developed to force good habits through negative reinforcement. After dealing with the frustration of repeatedly failing to develop such habits, Maneesh Sethi came up with Pavlok. Using its tracking capabilities, the device delivers a small electric shock when you aren’t doing what you have set out to do. This can be anything from waking up on time everyday to going to the gym regularly.
Pavlok also has a social component. Not only will it deliver a pre-programmed shock when you aren’t doing what you’re supposed to, you can designate a partner to shock you as well. Your friend can check to see if you’ve met your regular obligation (i.e. going to the gym). If not, they can deliver a shock through an app or via Facebook.
Sethi is confident that Pavlok works. After using the device himself, he says that he has lost 30 pounds just by reinforcing the habit of going to the gym. Sethi plans to use crowdfunding to launch Pavlok later this year with the goal of selling to the general public by 2015.
The question of safety does arise while using Pavlok. Clearly, it is not for everybody, but it would be nice to know more specifics with regard to how strong the shock is, how it’s delivered, and what kind of damage it may be doing. It will be interesting to see if the public supports Sethi’s next step in wearable productivity devices with their dollars — further, will be interesting to see if regulatory bodies intervene due to the abnormal mechanism of this wearable.
Whether or not this wearable actually makes it to market (we have our doubts), this is another example of how wearables are capturing the imagination of inventors.
Source: Engadget
