Smart tattoos arriving

(Illustration) The not-so-distant future will bring tattoos which are much more than a drawing and a caption. Scientists have developed a new kind of high technology temporary skin decorations, which enable the use of smartphones and apps for similar devices.

A group of doctoral students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Microsoft Research have developed tattoos called DuoSkin. They are applied more or less like regular temporary tattoos, are made of golden leaves (and, occasionally, LED lamps), and they resemble jewelry rather than tattoos.

The scientists say that they can be used to run devices like smartphones, work with apps, transfer data to other devices, communicate, and they can also be used as screens.

DuoSkin can be used to display information, but also to share feelings through a couples app called Couple Harmony. Scientists have designed three different kinds, one of which is a tattoo which changes colors depending on the body temperature.

Still, it is expected that, once they start being widely used, the tattoos equipped with NFC technology, which enables the exchange of info at the touch of the smartphone icon on the tattoo, will be much more popular.

tattoo

tattoos

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

MIT

Microsoft Research

DuoSkin

temporary tattoos

Couple Harmony

NFC technology