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Wearable Oyster card developed
7 Jul 2011

An Oyster card that people can charge up and wear has been developed by a former graphic designer, showcasing his creation at the 2011 Royal College of Art degree show.

Benjamin Parton, 34, is currently displaying Oi, a plastic ring that can be worn to help reduce queuing times at subway gates, as people search through their bag for their card, the London Evening Standard reports.

Discussing the original Oyster card design, the former advertising professional said he thought it was somewhat "lacklustre and boring", having been the same for eight years.

"I wondered if it could be made more fun," he remarked, explaining that he went through 30 prototypes and looking into the science behind radio frequency tag design.

Mr Parton's product can either be worn as a watchstrap widget or a ring.

It could prove to be particularly useful during next year's Olympic Games, when it is thought there will be an additional 20 million tube journeys, the news source reported.