Skin-Based Display Screens From Nanotech Tattoos

destinyland writes "Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York is developing flexible nanotubes inserted under the skin to create a handheld display — inside your hand. They wirelessly receive data and display reminders and text messages, and the concept has also been broadened to suggest endlessly programmable digital tattoos, while Netherlands-based Royal Philips Electronics is also exploring the concept of the body as 'a platform for electronics and interactive skin technologies'." That middle link is quite old, but is still loaded with interesting links.

Comments

Allright!!

[SalaSSin]

Finally a way to change my tattoo every time i feel like it, and get rid of my gf's complaints that she doesn't want me to have more tattoos.

Re:Allright!!

[AlecC]

The possibilities for hacking other people's tattoos are frightening. You can hardly go around keeping a continuous watch on them, especially on your back. Imagine going to work at school labelled "Crack $5/bag".

Re:Allright!!

[bugnuts]

And then you make sure the tattoo display device renders the sanitized html correctly. (for all those n00bs who thought this went off-topic)

Re:Allright!!

[cayenne8]

I wonder if these palm electronic 'tatoos', could be federally mandated to look like a 'crystal', and change color every 7 years of your life. At 21, it could blink when you are on lastday, before you have to turn yourself in for sleep.

Hmm....shoot, I'll be we could transform the DEA into a group called sandmen, you know, just in case you decided to 'run' and not turn yourself in for sleep.

Re:Allright!!

[maxwell demon]

Well, [ & ] can be hit with a single key, whereas require the shit key to be hit as well.

Well, my keyboard doesn't have a shit key. I understand that you wouldn't want to touch that quite often. Maybe you should get one with a shift key instead. :-)

BTW, I never understood what problems people have with pressing shift. I don't have any problems with it (not even when writing German, where there are a lot of upper case letters). OTOH, on German keyboards, the [ and ] characters are some of the hardest characters to type: You have to press, at the same time, the AltGr key (on US keyboards there's the right Alt key at that position) and the keys 8 resp. 9.

Ohhh... can you imagine the hack possibilities

[Opportunist]

If you thought fun with programmable road signs was something, wait 'til tatoo hacks become the new fad!

Re:Ohhh... can you imagine the hack possibilities

[El_Muerte_TDS]

Oh the possibilities

- Wash me
- Kick me
- Buy cheap v1agr4
- ...
- Profit!

Ray Bradbury will be delighted

[kubitus]

The Illustrated Man coming alive!

Camouflage

[sakdoctor]

Implant this under all exposed skin and a solider could have camouflage patterns turned on/off and changed for the terrain.

Re:Camouflage

[blargfellow]

Or the enemy sends you a virus, and you end up with a bullseye on your forehead.

Re:Camouflage

[bentcd]

What's the point in that? He'd either have to carry both desert and urban camo (for middle-east incursions at least), and swap half way through, or they'd have to be butt-naked all the time.

If they can put this in skin they can probably put it in clothes too.

Re:Camouflage

[Tom]

Because in war it's such a bright idea to have much skin exposed?

Sorry, some camouflage make-up applied to the parts of the face you can't hide seems like a lot simpler, cheaper, more reliable and simply superior in all other aspects.

This nice sounds nice

[Norsefire]

but most Geeks don't have a high pain threshold.

Re:This nice sounds nice

[supernova_hq]

Dude... If you fall asleep on my couch, the cat will extend her paw 2 1/2 feet in the air (over the arm rest), sink her claws into the back of your skull, and then pull them back out again.

Scares the living shit out of you the first few times!

Re:This nice sounds nice

[Merls the Sneaky]

Are you joking? A tattoo hurts a lot less than regular high school beatings or unrequited love.

well........

[tatermonkey]

Its only a matter of time before someone figures out how to get porn on it.

Should we...

[Anonymous Coward]

Without reading the article, should we assume this kind of technology can be used to help college student cheat on tests?

A Cautionary Note

[hyades1]

If programmable digital tattoos catch on, it might be a good idea if the data feed in your "handheld display" was used to ensure that the name in your tattoo matches the name of the person you're with.

OCtattoos !

[Macka]

This reminds my of the futuristic OCtattoos (Organic Circuitry tattoos) that Peter Hamilton makes use of in his Commonwealth Saga stories.

They're described in the Wiki as:

OCTattoos (Organic Circuitry Tattoos) are also a major technological device. These are tattooed on the skin and resemble colourful, often metallic tattoos, and serve hundreds of purposes from transferring credits to serving as sensors. Their main function is to act as processors for other implants (which may function at reduced capacity if an OCTattoo is damaged).

Would be really neat to have this in our lifetime.

Re:OCtattoos !

[newcastlejon]

Just give me a shout when I can have a watch like Wu's.

Hands-on

[Mr. Moose]

Where can I get some hands-on experience with this technology?

I've been wanting this for a...

[Eric Smith]

wristwatch without the watch, for a long time now.

So how do I sign up?

[guyminuslife]

I can be a very willing guinea pig, lab rat, et cetera. Just tell me where to sign!

Yes, the prospect of long-term, irreparable skin damage is nothing next to the coolness of having the dermatological equivalent of animated GIFs. And I mean that sincerely.

Good luck at the airport

[KlaymenDK]

Good luck with that the next time you're at the security check at the airport. Pacemakers they know about, but with people getting withheld due to t-shirts with *images* of electronics, this thing is just asking for trouble.

I'll wait...

[Capt James McCarthy]

It all sounds cool...for a movie or a fad. The next thing you know you have to keep your virus defs up to date or your tatoo will be throwing up all kinds of unwanted pop-ups. If it can be 'reprogrammed,' that is just a freq that manipulates the nano devices, then it can be maliciously altered as well. I still don't understand the fascination with putting electronics in the body (medical reasons notwithstanding). And there is already an issue with people being tracked and watched. They tie the screen to your vitals and it will glow green if you are telling the truth or red if you are lying. It will tell folks your current medical status. _IF_ that is what you want.

Re:Immunse systems do not like foreign objects.

[samurphy21]

There are many biologically neutral materials that are safely implanted into the body all the time. Titanium pins for repairing bones. Pacemakers. Composite plates for skull injuries. These are just medical examples. You get into the "body modification" crowd and you start seeing stainless steel, neobium, and nylon implants and piercings.

I suspect that rejection or attack by white blood cells are not an insurmountable issue here, but I'm not a doctor.

Police Documentation

[KneelBeforeZod]

Hypothetically, if this were to become common. It'd force police to rethink how they document and identify distinguishing marks on the body. Or a gang member being some kind of double agent and switching inks from one gang to another. Its the stuff of scifi. Makes me think of The Illustrated Man of Ray Bradbury.

Voice command?

[Millennium]

If they could figure out a voice-command interface to this, "Talk to the hand" could get a whole new meaning.

Ni-Go-Zeero-Ichi

[Drakkenmensch]

One step closer to Ghost in the Shell's brain hacking becoming an everyday reality!

Re:HHG2G did it!

[DrgnDancer]

The author later called it "The Increasingly Misnamed Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Trilogy"