Via Gizmoto, “Infinite Machines, LLC”
“POW! and Infinite Machines will soon introduce POWER PATROL, a new line of digital jewelry and wearables capable of storing and actually transferring digital super powers attained in a secret online game to a set of Power Patrol Rings that can be worn by fans wishing to emulate Super Heroes or Super Villains. The electronic Rings can transfer data back and forth from ring to ring, thus unlocking new powers, games, points and missions for the player or players.”
It’s like Tamagotchi for nerds.
When the BeBox, and BeOS, came out, there was an application that let one bounce a ball in a window. The window could have an exit that could bounce the ball to another window, even on another machine connected via the network. Some of the virtual pets, and a bunch of the new collectable card game implementations in electronics, have ways to connect. Furby could talk to other Furby, and even Teddy Ruxpin could, alas via a wired connection, link to that odd caterpillar worm creature that claimed to be Teddy’s friend, but was clearly an alien looking for a Teddy sized meal when everyone got sleepy.
Meatspace applications for having our stuff talk to other people’s stuff without even, perhaps, needing our intervention is kinda squicky. There’s something ticklish to the mind about this, that’s on the same level for me as The Little Computer People. There’s something neat-o about technology that seems to have a life of its own that walks the line like a drunk between cool and freaky.