If you’ve ever had the feeling of money burning a hole in your pocket, this might be the gadget for you: a wallet that won’t even let you put it in your pocket.
The makers of a new device are trying to help you combat the irrational urge to spend with a “Living Wallet” that crawls away and screams.
The “Living Wallet” works with a smartphone app that keeps track of your finances.
Setting the app on “Save Mode” will turn the wheeled wallet into your conscience. Not will it only remind you that you’re going broke, it will literally crawl away from you if it senses you reaching for it. If you persist, or eventually catch up to its turtle-like pace, it will let out bloodcurdling screams, and its final response is to make a phone call to your mother—if you’ve made sure to have her among your contacts.
However, during “Consumption Mode,” the device will be just like your best (or worst) friend, tempting you with the hottest products from Amazon Japan. It will even play the “Ode to Joy” melody from Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.
The Living Wallet is another perfect example of the particularly Japanese inventions called chindōgu, which solve daily problems but do so in such a goofy way that you’d never want to be seen using them in public.
It was nominated for the Yahoo! Japan Internet Creative Award 2013, according to RocketNews24.
You can see some footage of the little guy in action below:
By Maesie Bertumen
