WristWallet
Adding a wallet to a wristwatch, to give it new superpowers. It's not a smartwatch, it's a superwatch!
WristWallet
Created At
Winner of
Arbitrum - Pool Prize
Prize Pool
Scroll - Deploy on Scroll
Prize Pool
Project Description
WristWallet is an early research and development project, exploring the field of Human Computer Interface (HCI) in the context of the EVM. The project delivers a prototype design for a wallet which is attached to a user's wrist. This emulates the commonly observed interface of the wristwatch, and the emerging concept of the "smart" watch, and augments it with basic payment functionality.
A key objective of the project is to seek to reduce the number of personal devices (laptop, phone, watch) we need in our lives, by depicting a self-sovereign standalone device, capable of connecting the owner with powerful emergent web3 networks. By adding integration to Ethereum, via a user-centric keypair, we introduce the potential for expanding the functionality on the device, to begin to leverage other infrastructure networks based on Ethereum. Examples of such networks include Waku (messaging), Swarm (storage), Livepeer (video) and ENS (naming/identity).
By equipping such a device access with it's own network stack (for mobile connectivity e.g. 5G eSIM), as well as USB-C (for keyboard/mouse/monitor docking), we can conceive of a future world where we each have only one "personal device", which is capable of providing all familiar user interfaces (desktop, mobile). Such concepts are only truly imaginable in the context of "trustable" blockchain-based networks, where one can imagine offloading services from the device (e.g. moar remote decentralised storage, less local storage = less hardware requirement / less battery requirement).
How it's Made
The project uses the Android operating system to provide basic level device functionality, and Walleth for basic wallet functionality (connection to RPC endpoint). A custom UI was developed to optimise for the form factor, as well as a CAD design for a 3D printed case for housing the device, and attaching to the wrist.
Our initial approach was to use a smart-watch developer kit from 2015. We achieved early success, in being able to deploy basic application to the device, including a splash screen of ethistanbul. We encountered significant difficulties however, as loose wiring resulted in the system malfunctioning, and ultimately becoming unresponsive.
Our fallback was to develop the User Journey Design and the WristWallet Software, as well as a designing a case for the physical manifestation of a WristWallet, using CAD for 3D printing.
