A Sonntagszeitung article lead me to the following website today. It's one of those start-ups who received funding through Venturekick, the initiative, of which I am a jury member. (To read the relevant posts click here.) What they offer is instantly electronic exchange of contact details when you meet someone. Business cards look like stoneage technology compared to this.

Venturekick gives money away to university staff and students who have a business idea that has the potential to start up a company and create jobs. To receive money they need to present their idea successfully to the jury. If they convince us, they receive 10'000 Swiss Francs for the first presentation, 20'000 for the second and 100'000 for the third. Each presentation after the first one needs to prove that they moved forward and for the third one the company needs to be founded. Poken passed all three presentations successfully. Nice to see them in the media and online now.

In the real world...

With your poken you instantly connect with new friends across online social networks when and where you meet them. (...) To connect to a friend, simply do a "high-four" with the two pokens' little hands. You will feel a magnetic pull between the hands when they are properly aligned: palm-to-palm. The data communication lasts about one second, so you can pull them apart after 1 or 2 seconds.

The pokens' palms glow green if the connection is successful. If they glow red, then there has been an error. In that case, simply high-four them again for a few seconds.

Touch your poken to as many friends as you'd like to share your online social network profile(s).

Even if you've already connected with someone, it's worth high-fouring your friends every time you hang out with them. You'll be able to view all your social interactions in a timeline. The Poken high-four can become your new greeting. You can then keep track of when and how often you and your friends hang out.

Do YOU poken?

http://www.doyoupoken.com