If you live in a major city, you probably have some form of RFID fare card to get on the train or bus. New Yorkers struggle with their Metrocards, Boston residents juggle CharlieCards with their coffee, San Francisco has the Clipper, and so it goes around the world. But one London student, a jewelry designer, had a fairly brilliant idea: Why do we need to keep the chip in the card?
Lucie Davis took the chip out of an Oyster card, which is what London calls their transit payment system for about the reasons you’d expect. Embedded in her press-on nails, the chip lets you simply touch or even wave your hand over a terminal and pay:
Anybody who has used these systems even once knows just how much form matters. Yes, a card will fit in a wallet, but if you can’t easily get at your wallet, or lose it, that defeats the whole purpose. True, press-on nails, rings, bracelets, and other ideas could get lost too, but probably not as easily and if nothing else, it’d be worth the time savings and not having to wait around while somebody tries to remember which of their eighty pockets they left their card in. Besides, with a ring, you could punch the terminal to be let in, something we’ve all dearly, dearly wanted to do.
(via Mashable)