Visa teams with Central Saint Martins to design future of wearable payments
Visa Europe has teamed with art and design school Central Saint Martins to challenge its students and graduates to create a series of design concepts for the future of wearable payments.
Three different concepts have been created as part of the project which saw five students imagine the form and functionality of contactless wearable devices by 2020.
The designs had to be geared specifically towards payments while also challenging the wearable norms that the industry has focused on to date. The resulting concepts included ways of managing loose change digitally, categorising payments made with a hand gesture and integrating fashion, social media and payments into a brooch.
Speaking about the project, Nick Mackie, head of contactless at Visa Europe, said that payment function on a wearable device can become as ubiquitous as 'the alarm function on a digital watch'.
"We see huge potential in the wearable payments space, which is growing in popularity – especially among the tech-savvy millennial market," he said. "Wearables take all that’s great about contactless – the speed, convenience and simplicity – and make it better still. The very essence of a wearable is its physical connection to you at any time, which by nature eliminates friction and improves security.”
Take a look at the concepts below.
Visa/ Central Saint Martins
Small Change
small_change.jpg
Small Change is set in the moment of transition between cash and digital money, and helps people manage transactions of smaller denominations digitally. It aims to facilitate this transition away from coins by allowing people to collect their loose change onto one wearable device.
Budgeteer
budgeteer.jpg
Budgeteer is a wearable payment device placed on the wrist that helps the user to organise and budget their expenses at the point of sale, simply by movement.
By making three intuitive and simple hand gestures, the user can categorise payments into three categories (work, me or home), which will be highlighted in different colours in their online banking statement.
Thread
thread.jpg
Thread is a fashion-orientated brooch that bridges the gap between the online and real-world self through a Bluetooth-powered augmented reality app, turning anonymous fashion lovers into identifiable brand ambassadors. The brooch has been designed to be issued in conjunction with particular brands or stores, and the aesthetics can be altered to reflect that.
The project follows last week's collaboration with British designer Henry Holland, which saw wearable payment technology brought to London Fashion Week for the first time.