With electronic ticketing on the rise around the world, the way we buy and use train tickets is quickly evolving.
Most mass transit systems now have some kind of smart card system, designed to cut down the queues at ticket machines and make moving through stations a smoother process.
But a pair of engineering students in Boston think they may have already designed the next generation of smart tickets.
The two entrepreneurs have come up with a new product called Sesame Rings after regularly missing their trains rummaging around in bags looking for a Charlie Card – MBTA’s smart card in Massachusetts.
Early prototypes have been produced on a 3D printer containing all of the same components that make up the Charlie Card, just in a ring
Kickstarter, a crowdfunding website designed to support creative start-ups, liked the product and to date, close to 600 backers have pledged almost $14,000 to support the development of the project.
We are heading blindly towards an idiocracy.
I can’t help feel that the RF bits should be on the underside, as this would give a more natural movement. Imagine people fist pumping an Oyster card reader at peak times.
Hardly a new idea. Octopus watches have been available in Hong Kong for years. Indeed, Google and Apple are bringing out smartphone watches very soon that are likely to combine this sort of technology too.