Shock treatment to curb our bad habits

A number of tech devices are being developed with a mission to help us control our finances - and they can curb the spending of our loved ones too.

Illustration by Gary Clement for The National

I can see the headline now: Jolted - wife's revenge spending spree is a scorcher.
The plot thickens. It turns out Pavlok did it.
Pavlok delivered the joules that harmed the unfaithful husband. But he can't be prosecuted. He is an it: the latest in wearable technology. A wristband that promises to look after your financial well-being, specifically your bank balance, by inducing a physical electric shock if you overspend. Pavlok is very real - and one day could mean that my headline is no longer fiction.
The manufacturers claim the shock will range from "pleasant to slightly uncomfortable", but who's to know what tweaks or amount of overspend can make it do?
The idea is innocent enough: a notification is sent to your phone if you get dangerously close to your preset spending limit. If you go over it, the wristband delivers a shock.
Better a little zap now than a nasty jolt later - that's the thinking. It's one of a growing number of smart web-enabled devices that can be linked to a bank account, to help us keep more money in our lives.
Another example is Google's Nest smart thermostat. The claim is that it will help us save money on utility bills - I'm game; summer is upon us and AC spending is spiking. This is how it works: Nest controls the temperature of your home, turning it up or down - depending on the season, - to a pre-decided one. If your bank balance drops below a specific, self-imposed limit, Nest will override and change the thermostat setting to save energy and reduce spending.
Both these products are offered through Interact IoT, which defines itself as the first ever Internet of Things banking platform, with the mission of helping us curb our overspend and take control of our finances.
This is using tech for good, and there's an increasing demand for this sort of thing because other technologies are ruining our handle on spend.
Cashless transactions using cards or chips are one example. It might be convenient, but the downside is that we easily lose track of spend, which is why Pavlok and Nest help. But there's only so much they can do. Imagine having a supplementary card linked to your account - if the other people in your life don't respect the limit, you're the one being zapped.
This reminds me of a story a friend shared about her family dogs when she was a child: they had two dogs. One barked a lot and they decided to teach her to stop by putting a collar on her that squirted water in her face every time she barked - something she hated. She quickly learnt the connection and became silent. Except she wasn't the only one to learn this cause and effect; the other dog cottoned on and would go right up to her and bark - and yes, you guessed it, she'd be showered. My friend noted this, but it doesn't seem her parents did because every morning they'd get up and go through the daily routine of fastening the water collar to the once barking dog - who, with time, was reduced to a nervous wreck because she knew what was coming, but had no idea when.
The person who invented Pavlok also wanted to change behaviour - his own. His initial aim was to break his Facebook habit, so he hired someone to slap him every time he looked at it. That's pretty extreme. Today you can use Pavlok to stop all manner of unappealing or wasteful habits, like nail-biting, smoking or snoozing when you should be up for work, without that level of physical pain.
The bottom line is that we can work on being in control of our behaviours and reactions, but we cannot ever be in control of others. When it comes to finances, you and your loved ones are linked. Hopefully you can find common ground, aims and behaviours that bring you together, instead of causing each other pain, physical, or otherwise.
Nima Abu Wardeh describes herself using three words: Person. Parent. Pupil. Each day she works out which one gets priority, sharing her journey on finding-nima.com. You can reach her at [e-mail] and on Twitter at @nimaabuwardeh.
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