By Nick Bild

A project from the MIT Media Lab called Glyph explores one possible answer. Built into an ordinary credit card wallet, the device pairs with XR glasses and uses a tiny E Ink display to present QR codes and transit passes while offering just two buttons for simple confirmation or dismissal actions. Rather than trying to replace the smartphone, Glyph offers an easy way to integrate XR with the existing phone-centric infrastructure.

nstead of asking airports, payment terminals, transit systems, and other pieces of infrastructure to adapt to XR glasses, Glyph presents them with the same information they already know how to read. The glasses generate a boarding pass, ticket, or other credential and wirelessly transfer it to the wallet, which displays it on the E Ink screen. To everyone else involved, the interaction looks exactly like scanning a QR code from a smartphone.