The future is now! Star Wars circuit board phone and train pass cases light up without batteries

See this, you must!

Daily life for many people in Japan involves taking the train, be it to school, work, or just into town for some shopping. Instead of buying a ticket every time, a lot of train commuters opt for an IC card – an electronic, rechargeable train pass which allows you to simply tap in and out of your departure and destination stations, automatically withdrawing the correct fare. But undoubtedly the coolest thing about having a train pass is getting a pass case for it.

There are pass cases for every taste and style, but we’re pretty sure this is the first time you’ve seen one that lights up when it’s tapped.

Osaka-based company, Denshi Gihan, has released a line of Star Wars themed pass cases, as well as cases for the iPhone 6/6s, featuring a blueprint design of the X-Wing in the style of a computer circuit board. Actually, the cases are real circuit boards, finished with gold plating and a super transparent resin to cover the electronic parts. The red LED light flashes when the case with card is tapped at the ticket gate. So far, it has not been tested for use with passes outside of Japan, except for with FeliCa cards in Hong Kong. The pass cases come in slack white, green, and even black, and come packaged in a gift box with its strap, for 11,000 yen (US$105.95).

The iPhone6/6s cases come with the same unique design, but these use the phone’s electrical signal to convert to electricity, making the LED light up when the signal is strong enough. You can purchase the standard case (size 138 by 68 by 10 millimeters), containing 55 electric components, for 15,000 yen ($143.88)…

…or the iPhone6/6s Plus (size 158 by 80 by 10.5 millimeters) with 67 electronic components for 16,000 yen ($153.48).

Not quite with the Force? Not to worry- you can choose the Tokyo train map train map design, which looks just as awesome, for 12,000 yen ($115.10).

You can purchase these (and many more!) items from the PCB ART moeco site here, but as they appear to only ship within Japan, if you’re living overseas you’ll need to use a reshipping service, or rely on the help of a kind friend. While it is important to remember that the train pass case hasn’t been tested for overseas compatibility, the iPhone case at least should be universal. And there’s sure to be no one who can match your style!

Source and images: Denshi Gihan
Top image edited by RocketNews24

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