Proverbial Wallets: Wallets that Metamorphose Depending on Your Financial Situation

Financial experts often counsel you to check your balance online every day. It's a simple way to connect you more closely with your financial situation, instead of being in the dark until the day you go to the ATM and find your account nearly empty.

Proverbial Wallets, a new project from the MIT Media Lab, offers a more innovative way to check your balance daily. The Bluetooth equipped wallets physically transform depending on your current financial situation: The Bumblebee buzzes every time your bank account updates. The Peacock inflates or deflates depending on your total assets. The Mother Bear (pictured) has a hinge that makes it harder to open if you are approaching monthly budgets.

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Says the project's developers:

The Proverbial Wallet gives us that financial sense at the point of purchase by un-abstracting virtual assets. Tactile feedback reflecting our personal balances and transactions helps us develop a subconscious financial sense that guides responsible decisions. In addition to providing a visceral connection to our virtual money, tactile output keeps personal information private and ambient.

The wallets are currently a prototype, but will hopefully actually be available soon. Here is a video of them in action:

[vimeo][/vimeo]