Buttons from the future
For as long as people have been political or had a passion for social causes, they’ve decided to either stick buttons on their lapels or stickers to their shirts. These buttons have been static, which just doesn’t feel good enough in 2017.
Beam Authentic is hoping to change the game with its new AMOLED smart button which displays GIFS, slideshows and static images. It has a resolution of 400 x 400 pixels and sports a claimed battery life of 24 hours.
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The companion app is where all the magic happens. You can design your own buttons if you like, or you can pick out photos from the web or your phone. There are also GIFs and you can take button designs from other Beam owners, too, which is important if you’re trying to push a social cause. After all, one of the points of buttons like these is to get a whole bunch of people to wear them.
Naturally, the companion app will let you take a look at which buttons your friends are using – so if you see a cause that they’re into and you’re also into, you can adopt it for your own button. Even better is that you can use the app to raise both awareness and cash for your preferred causes. So not only are you telling people what you care about, you’re doing some good in the world.
But the Beam isn’t just for telling people how you feel, it’s also for helping you stay safe. If you hold down the function button for a couple seconds you’ll activate panic mode, which will send your location and a message to up to four people.
The Beam is available for $99 and can clip onto things in three ways: magnets, a pin, and a strap accessory for handbags. It’s not the most smart thing in the world, but it does have that “about time” feel. We’re one step closer to the world of Harry Potter, where every image in the real world is a looping video.