Match Code

The message of the project

The project’s partners want to give people the power to use technology as a tool to rediscover human interaction. They believe that what defines us as humans, developed during evolution, may actually make us happy. Communication, respect, and love.

Match Code is not a virtual place to chat or to share pictures. It aims to get people close to each other in presence by following a code of light and haptic sensation that feels like an accelerated heartbeat when we get close to our soul mate.

The idea behind the project

The concept was inspired by the problem of safety in nightclubs. 

Their design is a wearable accessory that can facilitate, support, and encourage relationships between people in social contexts: a concert, a club, a discotheque, a venue.

Studying the issue of communication amongst individuals in their modern culture, they realised that the problem has deepened with social distancing and digitally mediated relations. They want Match Code to encourage consensual relationships, avoiding misunderstandings and antisocial and unwanted behaviours.

Match Code is a wearable, conceived according to the principle of human-centred design, digitally realised with an integrated IoT device, and customisable through a web app. 

Through actuators that send signals to the wearer, Match Code enables the notification of readiness for social interaction: having a drink together, making new acquaintances, or dancing. The connected app is useful only to find people with the same interests; the bracelet is voluntarily without a screen, so communication will only take place between the two (or more) humans using it.

What next?

Match Code is now only a prototype built with the best materials and an ethical supply chain of artisans, just like a real “Made in Italy” product is. The device is developed with an open-source board, and all collected data is encrypted.

The design is beautiful because it combines comfort and technology in a way that is simple in its orientation but well thought out. Future production could consist of a few products for rent or on-demand urban manufacturing.

Inclusiveness is at the centre of their project: everyone is free to enter Match Code as it is not a binary accessory. The information part of the web app is open to all sexual orientations, and its final goal is to match not only romantic relationships but also friendships, open relationships, and much more.