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Advances in wearable technology have already seen thousands of people get more active by starting to count their steps and working to beat their daily goal.
Now the technology is being applied to human behaviour in a new way not seen before – as part of a type of aversion therapy – complete with small electric shocks. It’s called the Pavlok.
The wristband is designed to administer shocks when users take part in one of their bad habits. The catch is the wristband can’t detect this automatically, so users have to tap the shock button themselves to administer the jolt to their wrist and their conscience.
There’s a companion app though, and from this it is possible to have the wristband vibrate at you each time you raise your hands to your mouth.
So this could work if you bite your nails, or smoke, but it also happens every time you raise your hand and you’re not taking part in a bad habit.
As a tool for making you more aware of your habits, like many wearables, the Pavlok appears to be a solid starting point, but the jury remains out on whether it can actually break bad habits.
