Swiping into the subway is a pain. Remember the time Hillary Clinton tried to do it like 12 times and just couldn’t get it quite right? Across the pond, the London Underground, or Tube, system uses cards with RFID microchips that let users hold the card up to a reader to gain access. Easier, yes, but the system still requires you keep track of a card at all times.
Alternatively, you could just pry the microchip out of the card and embed it in a set of acrylic fingernails, so that every time you wave your hand the entrance gates bow to your technological power.
Lucie Davis, a 22-year-old jewelry-design student from London created this fingernail set as a school project, she explained on Instagram. The RFID chip is hidden within the nail, covered by a blue-and-white paint job which mimics the designs on a standard Oyster Card (the prepaid and refillable card Tube riders use). Technically, the nails violate a Transport of London rule which prohibits removing an RFID chip from an Oyster Card, CNET reports, and I’m not sure fake nails, with their penchant for breaking off, are the ideal location for embedding an important piece of tech. Still, points for innovation.
