In the Fall of 2015, during an entrepreneurial course at Brown, ENGN1010, my colleagues and I knew about the upcoming distribution of RFID chips integrated on credit/debit cards. The RFID chips were marketed to retail stores as a way to speed up the traditional checkout process. I felt that was bogus. Sliding your credit/debit card takes the same amount of time as inserting your credit/debit card. A different move for the same dance.

We also knew that there would eventually be a market where the RFID chips are integrated in to the products as well. Using this knowledge, the team and I brainstormed a process that would truly speed up the check out process. We decided to create the Auto-Checkout. The Auto-Checkout is a conceptual product in which the machine scans RFID chips that are integrated in retail products’ packaging. The retail store customer will quickly insert and remove their card from the scanner. The scanner will have the payment information stored for the transaction. The customer will walk through the scanner and have all of their products scanned instantaneously. The transaction is completed.

I came up with the design to ensure simplicity, functionality, and just a touch or two above what the masses would find familiar.