Inside each Watch2Pay is a SIM card that is linked to a MasterCard PayPass prepaid account; it’s the key to the wireless interface between the watch and the reader. For practicality’s sake, each Watch2Pay also comes with a more conventional prepaid card for establishments that don’t have PayPass readers or for when your Watch2Pay is nicked off of you. Watch the video below for a bit more info. Unless you’re a fan of post-hardcore music, my headache and I strongly suggest you put it on mute.

No offense to the band who made that soundtrack, but come on. Whatever happened to bland commercial music? It’s bland for a reason. Watch2Pay is currently available in Poland and in the United Kingdom, where it sells for £99 (~$153 USD). I wouldn’t be surprised if it makes its way to other first world countries. Checkout the official website for more info.

[via Springwise via PFSK]

While in the bag, the “nano-silver”-lined SilentPocket also makes your phone impossible to hack wirelessly, blocking out all RFI and electromagnetic transmissions. Once it’s placed within, your phone or tablet will be completely shut off from the outside world. That means that all texts, emails and voicemails will only arrive once you take it out again. While you normally might just press the sleep switch on your device, many phones can still be tracked even if you think your phone is powered off. Of course, you could go into airplane mode to completely shut off communications.

Still, if you’re worried about what information you device might be sharing while you’re not using it, then this will do the trick. The MIAmobi SilentPocket comes in different sizes, to fit your smart phone and your tablet, but no prices are listed on the website.

[via Ubergizmo]

This system is currently being used in one of Vanquish’s men’s stores in Shibuya in Tokyo. There are a bunch of LCD displays located at the top of the clothing rack. Whenever you remove clothes, it will burst to life and give you information, while at the same time suggesting other matching accessories.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

This is definitely a more subtle way of trying to upsell wares, but honestly I still prefer a human over some LCD screen. Still, for some goods it might work well, since it’s a novel approach to shopping.

[via Japan Trends via Ubergizmo]

As you can see, the refrigerator has a large touchscreen for a door. It seems that the concept will only work if the contents are given RFID tags, but once they are, the fridge becomes really useful. With Kreuzer and Schilling’s future fridge, not only will you be able to see what’s inside without actually opening the door, you’ll also be able to see a variety of information, like expiration dates, and recipes which use the ingredients you have. The fridge will of course be connected to the Internet, providing price and location guides of nearby stores for replenishing supplies. But as you’ll see in the video below, the prototype version can’t do any of that fancy stuff – yet.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

If this particular concept seems familiar to you, it’s because a designer named Ashley Legg came up with an eerily similar idea which made its rounds on the Internet last year, and LG showed something similar, but much more basic at this year’s CES show. I’m sure Kreuzer and Schilling came up with this on their own though. I hope they continue to build on their prototype – their idea might be cool, but a real fridge would be cooler.

The tech in the bag is based on a Lilypad Arduino system. By placing RFID tags on up to five items, the bag will be able to detect whether these items are put in or taken out of the bag. A simple LED notification system tells you which items are already inside the bag – provided you haven’t forgotten which LED stands for which item of course.

As you can see in the top picture, although the LEDs stand out overall the tech is still integrated tastefully into the bag. Here’s a demo of the Déjà Vu:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Very practical and easy to understand. If you want to have your own Déjà Vu bag, you can get the code and instructions from the MIT New Textiles page. I wonder if it’s possible to make a bag with a built-in bar code reader and a small LCD display. That way you won’t have to memorize which LED stands for which object, you won’t have to use RFID tags and you’ll be able to mark more items.

[via FashioningTech]

JustJon wasn’t too specific with his build, but he did say that he placed an Arduino board to control the RFID reader. As you can see in the pictures, the power battery isn’t portable, because it needs to be plugged to an outlet.

Here’s JustJon recharging his power ring – which has RFID chip embedded in it to activate the power battery’s LEDs – complete with the Green Lantern oath:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

The lantern’s energy must have rendered JustJon speechless for a moment there.

[via JustJon via ComicsAlliance]

Codeninja built this device using a Nerf N-Strike Recon CS-6 loaded up with a 0.6 kilojoule camera flash driving a 50-turn copper spool. Now I have no idea how that works, but it sure sounds nasty. Also under the hood is an MP3 player with a 2-watt amplifier and speaker to crank out some good destructo sounds when the RFID eraser is engaged. As an added bonus, the Rfiddler momentarily blinds those who stand in front of it with a bright flash.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Apparently, it’s also strong enough to kill many USB flash drives. Given the way this thing works, I wouldn’t aim it at your credit cards, hard drives (or the cat) either.

[via Hack A Day]

Violet (the makers of those quirky Nabaztag USB rabbits) is about to unleash Mir:ror, a small puck-shaped USB gadget which acts like an interface between your everyday belongings and your computer.

For example, you could place an RFID tag on an umbrella, wave it over your Mir:ror, and your computer would display the current weather forecast. Hold up your cocktail shaker to open the latest drink recipes. Place your remote control on it, and bring up tonight’s TV schedule. The connections you create between the real world and the digital world are only limited by your imagination.

To use the Mir:ror, simply place a tagged object on top of the device, and it’ll automatically execute a task on the machine that you’ve synced up with your items. The Mir:ror can instantly identify many objects with built-in RFID tags, but you can tag pretty much anything you want with their colorful identification stamps (called ztamp:s). Violet’s new web site lets you set up all your devices and applications to work with the Mir:ror.

Violet expects to release the Mir:ror in the US on October 27th, and you can order the $69.99 starter kit (including Mir:ror, 3 ztamp:s, 2 nanoztag rabbits, and an additional skin for the surface) over on Dynamism.

[photos via Neteco]

The video is fun to watch as you get to see the chair in action, following this guy around the library. Somehow the chair is cute enough that it doesn’t seem too creepy that it’s always right behind you.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Dutch designer Jelte van Geest created the chairs for Openbare Bibliotheek Endhoven, a library design project. He says. “Robots are often seen as mean machines. However, they do have a more friendly side, which should have a more prominent place in our society.” Whoa, there, Jelte- just don’t get too comfortable with them- or that whole robot overlord thing could happen right under our noses.

This is great for someone like me, because I’m lazy. Then again, I never go to the library so I guess I’d need a home version. Another application would be in a bar, so that when you get up to grab a new drink some jerk doesn’t steal your seat.

Now all it needs to achieve perfection is a cupholder.

[via momeld]

Kodak has filed this patent application for RFID tagged capsules that could be swallowed to track activity in a patient’s digestive system. The capsules would contain a tiny tracking chip which could be used to monitor a patient’s medication history, or to transmit other medical information to a nearby RF data collector. The pills would be designed to break down over time without harming the recipient.

While the idea might seem a little odd, it actually has potential to reduce the need for invasive medical procedures, as well as to ensure that patients take the proper dosage of their medicines.

[via New Scientist]

The project has real snails delivering electronic messages via tiny RFID tags attached to their shells. The messages are delivered literally “at a snails pace.” to their destinations. At the Real Snail Mail website you can send your own message to be queued up for snail delivery. It sits in the queue until a snail comes close to an RFID hotspot. The reader checks the snail’s RFID to decide whether or not it already has a message to deliver. If not, the snail is assigned the next message from the queue. All the way at the other end of the snail pond, there’s another RFID hotspot which delivers messages if and when the snails ever get there.

The installation is on display until October 21st in London at Space Studios along with several other RFID art exhibits.

[via wemakemoneynotart]