Eaze is a newly released app in beta that will allows for gesture based payment on the Google Glass. As of the moment, the supported method of payment is bitcoins but Eaze is working to integrate other currencies such as dollars and euro as well. Co founder, Rutger van Zuidam mentioned that bitcoin was chosen due to the ease of implementation and convenience to consumers. He also indicated that Eaze is currently working with Paypal to see if they can support Paypal transactions as well. To put it simply, confirmation of payment is done through head gestures such as nodding which adds to the convenience and simplicity of purchasing on the go. This question here is whether this convenience will an advantage or a bane. Advantage here being the possibility of cashless transactions while the bane is the increase of impulsive buying due to the ease of paying.
Eaze first has to be linked to a bitcoin account/wallet. After this, an OK Google command will launch the app and a QR code generated by the merchant has to be scanned to initiate the transaction. Finally, confirmation is carried out through the double nod head gesture. This seems to be a rather intuitive system which allows for quite literally handsfree payment. The only downside here, is the lack of a security measure to prevent anyone from making unlimited purchases. To this end, Eaze is currently working to implement pin security for spending above a certain limit. Another limitation is that as there is no Glass store, installing the Eaze is rather cumbersome. This limits Eaze’s usability to those who are willing to tinker around to sideload it rather than the average user.
As of now, Eaze is the only app which supports Glass payment while its competitors such as Google itself is still working to implement Google Wallet. This means that Eaze has a headstart over its rivals such as GlassPay, which could translate to a better user experience overall due to feedback from users. Having said this, as bitcoin is the only means of payment, this would mean that you would first have to set up a bitcoin account. In addition, as merchants have to support bitcoin payment as well, this raises the question of availability of payment via bitcoin itself. This might make Eaze a novelty, rather than a practical means of purchasing and it would be interesting to see how Google Glass could possibly change the manner we make purchases. The other issue of security is something that has to be addressed as the spending limit pin security might not be adequate. It does offer a glimpse into the future of wearable tech and its impact on our daily lives. What do you guys think? Is wearable tech the future or is it simply a novelty?