Yandel Celebrates The Puerto Rican Day Parade (Photo : Brad Barket/Getty Images for Roc Nation)
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Microsoft Research created a smart tattoo called DuoSkin: a wearable gadget that can be part of the skin. The device can turn the skin as a touchpad to control other gadgets such as cellphones.
Inspired by metallic jewelry-like temporary tattoos, MIT and Microsoft Research created an on-skin interfaces using gold leaf. Gold leaf is a material often found in craft stores and being used as a conductor. It is durable and can withstand skin deformations on body motions, as reported by Quartz.
Aside from being a track pad or button to remotely control a phone, smart tattoo can also show its user's information. On an interview with Quartz, Cindy Hsin-Liu Kao, lead researcher for DuoSkin said that the smart tattoo may also be used for wireless communication.
It can be tagged with a near field communications (NFC) device with small microchips that can store data and can be read by phones or other NFC devices. They are also planning to use it as a substitute for subway cards, identification cards or movie tickets.
However, Kao said that the DuoSkin is just a "project" and not a product. The researchers hope that other companies will read their research and use it to create their own smart tattoos. It can be placed on skin just like a regular temporary tattoo: through water-transfer.
While the idea of using the skin as a touchscreen is not really new, other versions are quite expensive and require a device to project an interface on the skin. The DuoSkin technology is proven to be cheaper and simpler compared to other versions.
The DuoSkin is designed to last for few days, just like a regular non-electronic temporary tattoo. It will be presented in Heidelberg, Germany, at the International Symposium on Wearable Computers next month, Geek Wire reported.
"I think there is no fashion statement greater than being able to change how your skin looks," said Kao.
MIT and Microsoft Research initially presented a paper in May at the ACM CHI conference in San Jose, California regarding a tattoo fabrication process. During that time, they called their smart tattoo Tattio.
