This article was published on August 12, 2016

MIT created a temporary tattoo that can control your connected devices


MIT created a temporary tattoo that can control your connected devices

In the future, your tattoos could be as functional as they are expressive.

MIT, in partnership with Microsoft, created a new touch interface, DuoSkin, that allows temporary tattoos to interact with smartphones or computers, display output based on body temperature changes and even transmit data using NFC.

Cindy Hsin-Liu Kao, PhD student at MIT, says the tattoos are not only trendy, but cheap enough “change and edit your appearance whenever you want.” In Taiwan, Kao notes, there’s a “huge culture” of intermingled cosmetics and street fashion. The DuoSkin team wanted to achieve the same thing by keeping the technology affordable, attractive and on trend.

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Aesthetics aside, the tattoos are highly functional. Each DuoSkin tattoo is available in one of three separate classes:

  1. An input class that turns your skin into a trackpad.
  2. An output class that can change color based on skin temperature.
  3. A communication device that lets you pull data from the tattoo.

Screen Shot 2016-08-12 at 11.06.12 AM

Each class uses a gold leaf to create a durable and aesthetically pleasing temporary tattoo. From there, researchers create a circuit using graphics software before cutting out and placing the design like a normal temporary tattoo. Each tattoo can also contain an NFC chip, thermochromic layer, or even LED lights.

Kao suggests tech like this would be a perfect fit for tattoo parlors. With endless customization options, DuoSkin provides a great interfacing alternative for those adverse to other, more cumbersome pieces of technology — like a smartwatch.

via TechCrunch

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