New Product Design: Nymi Makes Life Easier

At MAKO Design + Invent, we like to keep ourselves up to date with the latest in technological innovation and new product design. Today, we talk about personalized identification systems and take a closer look at Nymi – the latest advancement in biometrics and wearable technology.

Biometrics has now become a household staple with more and more products using biometric authentication to allow users to securely connect and communicate. We’re talking face recognition, fingerprint and retina scans and even DNA verification. Toronto-based technology developer Bionym however, has taken biometrics to a whole new level with the invention of the Nymi band – a new product design that fits around your wrist and provides authentication by constantly reading the beating pulse of your heart.

“The heart rate is a biometric that is constant. It’s not something that you need to authenticate multiple times,” says Shawn Chance, VP of Marketing at Bionym. Nymi can interact with a variety of applications that need unlocking, thus creating a smart, password-free environment for the user. Built upon the principles of Privacy by Design, Nymi gives the user full control over personal information while still making it easy to access.

How Does This New Product Design Affect The Banking World?

The Royal Bank of Canada has recently paired up with Bionym to test how its new product design can facilitate payments and purchases without the need for a credit card. The Nymi, which looks like a watch, will soon grace the wrists of 250 RBC clients and staff, allowing them to test the product up until February.

“Royal Bank is focusing more on payment technology in an effort to introduce more payment options to clients,” said Jeremy Bornstein, head of RBC’s Payments Innovation Operations. Nymi provides users with the ability to leave their wallets at home and still be able to make purchases on the go. For now, the Nymi will only work with MasterCard, though RBC hopes to soon allow for PIN-free debit transactions as well.

The Nymi is made of sensors that recognize the unique electric signals emitted by a user’s heart, thus rendering it useless when it isn’t securely fastened on the user’s wrist. This makes it an extremely secure device that almost eliminates the danger of fraudulent transactions in case the device is stolen. The Royal Bank of Canada recognizes the Nymi as an innovative, wearable tool that is both safe and user-friendly and one that people will soon prefer to use instead of physical currency.

The Nymi, with its innovative new product design, is also being identified as an alternative to car keys, computer passwords and even remote controls. The team at MAKO shares Bionym’s passion for wearable technology, and we are really looking forward to the release of the Nymi. We are happy that a Toronto-based company created such a unique new product and can’t wait to see how it catches on as an identification device that will eventually eliminate the amount of plastic in your wallet!

About: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing world-class consumer product development services tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Simply put, we are the leading one-stop-shop for developing your physical product from idea to store shelves, all in a high-quality, cost-effective, and timely manner. We operate as one powerhouse 30-person product design team spread across 4 offices to serve you (Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto). We have full-stack in-house industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, patent referral, prototyping, and manufacturing services. To assist our startup and inventor clients, in addition to above, we help with business strategy, product strategy, marketing, and sales/distribution for all consumer product categories. Also, our founder Kevin Mako hosts The Product Startup Podcast, the industry's leading hardware podcast. Check it out for tips, interviews, and best practices for hardware startups, inventors, and product developers. Click HERE to learn more about MAKO Design + Invent!