Nokia thinks that it’s a good idea to get a tattoo that can tell you who’s calling

I’m all for cutting edge technology, and if you read this piece about The Next Web staffers, you know that I’m a fan of tattoos as well. However, mobile technology company Nokia might be taking things a bit too far with a patent that it registered recently according to UnwiredView.

Nokia is looking into technology that you would embed on your body, say your arm, and your mobile device would emit signals to it, letting you “feel” who’s calling. Different patterns of pulses would be transferred based on who the person is who’s ringing you up. I always joke about getting a Google chip implanted into my brain, but this stuff from Nokia scares me into thinking that it might just be possible one day.

While tattoos have come a long way when it comes to how techy they can be, I’m not ready to put something on my body that isn’t artwork.

UnwiredView explains how this process might take place:

The tattoo would be applied using ferromagnetic inks. The ink material would first be exposed to high temperatures to demagnetize it. Then the tattoo would be applied. You’ll apparently be able to choose the actual image you want as the tattoo. The procedure is identical to that of getting a ‘normal’ tattoo – only the ink is special.

After the tattoo has been applied, you’ll need to magnetize it. That means bringing the tattooed area in the close proximity of an external magnet, and going “several times over this magnet to magnetize the image material again”. The tattoo will then have enhanced sensitivity towards external alternating magnet fields, and will basically function the same way the aforementioned material attached to your skin did. Only in a more permanent fashion, so to speak.

And if you weren’t sold yet, here are some of the images from Nokia’s patent submission for “haptic communication”:

Companies submit patents all of the time and it doesn’t mean that the items mentioned will actually come to market, but this one definitely grabbed our attention.

Does this freak you out or would you actually consider getting a tattoo that lets you feel who’s calling you? Tell us in the comments. I don’t like picking up the phone as it is, so I’ll pass on this piece of tech for now thank you.