Flexible, Stretchable, Implantable LED Arrays Created

Zothecula writes "Researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have created bio-compatible LED arrays that can bend, stretch, and even be implanted under the skin. While this might cause some people to immediately think, 'glowing tattoos,' the arrays are actually intended for activating drugs, monitoring medical conditions, or performing other biomedical tasks within the body. Down the road, however, they could also be incorporated into consumer goods, robotics, or military/industrial applications."

Comments

perfect for a real wrist-watch..

[Fusione]

made out of wrist..?

Re:perfect for a real wrist-watch..

[Anonymous Coward]

I can see TokyoFlash doing something like that. you should totally pitch them the concept. :b

Re:perfect for a real wrist-watch..

[Anonymous Coward]

My thoughts exactly.

Re:perfect for a real wrist-watch..

[iamhassi]

now we just need a internal power source....

Awwwww Yeeeah

[Anonymous Coward]

Lite-Brite tattoo, here I come!

Re:Awwwww Yeeeah

[Anonymous Coward]

Count me in on that one!!!!

Only I want the light up music synthesizer that can switch to show my heart rate and oxygenation levels.

or even better, switch to instantly show my alcohol content... Whee...

Re:Awwwww Yeeeah

[HTH NE1]

Or a tattoo that can tell you when you need another injection of counteragent to counteract the impending quicksilver madness because you overused your invisibility gland.

Re:hm.

[vlm]

The lady will ask "Why does it say "YAD" on it? It'll get hard and spell out "You Are Doomed!"

Maybe one of those UV LEDs would help with birth control. Then again sunburn inside there might be painful.

Actually

[Monkeedude1212]

While this might cause some people to immediately think, 'glowing tattoos,'

Actually I imagined hooking up a super powerful LED to some nerve endings on the tips of my finger, then using it as a flashlight at any moment by training my brain to trigger the on-off switch like a muscle reaction.

Other immediate reactions included:
Finger Mounted Laser pointers
Hand turning red when commiting crimes, to deliver the line "You caught me red handed".
And holding my breath till my face turns blue.

Re:Actually

[socz]

How about getting rid of the screen on your phone and stick it in your palm or forearm for txting, emailing and web browsing!

That would be the ultimate wireless accessory!

Re:Actually

[mr100percent]

It sounds like something out of Bioshock, but I'd love it.

Re:Actually

[blair1q]

Where will you put the battery? Nerves don't have the current to light an LED.

Re:Actually

[Anonymous Coward]

ET is way ahead of you..

Re:Actually

[Monkeedude1212]

Well I grew up on System Shock - so that isn't a surprise.

Re:Actually

[Monkeedude1212]

Oh - I didn't actually think these ideas through, these were my "immediate thoughts" when they said implantable LED.

Re:Actually

[bittles]

Ellliiooot, Ouuuch.

Re:Actually

[Anonymous Coward]

I've been wondering for a while - how hard would it be to use glucose (and oxygen) from the blood to generate electricity? It's conveniently available energy, and there are systems in place to keep the concentration at a sensible level. Burning off another 0.5W or so sounds like it shouldn't have any significant averse effects...

Re:Actually

[Anonymous Coward]

While this might cause some people to immediately think, 'glowing tattoos,'

Actually, I imagined vagazzling.

Re:Actually

[Idiomatick]

That's the whole idea.

Re:Actually

[fahrbot-bot]

Actually I imagined hooking up a super powerful LED to some nerve endings on the tips of my finger, then using it as a flashlight at any moment by training my brain to trigger the on-off switch like a muscle reaction.

Other immediate reactions included: - Finger Mounted Laser pointers

...and a little tweaking: s/finger/penis/g

Re:Actually

[Gilmoure]

Pr0n would be... difficult.

Re:Actually

[wondafucka]

Other use: WEIGHT LOSS!!!!!!!

Show your friends and family how bright you are!

(ducks)

Re:Actually

[Arancaytar]

Finger Mounted Laser pointers

Close. Now get me a frigging shark.

Re:Actually

[thewils]

Yeah, especially with a screen on your palm...

Re:Actually

[Chris Burke]

Actually I imagined hooking up a super powerful LED to some nerve endings on the tips of my finger

Bad choice of location. I mean, it's a great choice for the utility of the flashlight, but poor because you're giving up a region of your most sensitive tactile sense.

Me, my first thought is forehead, like a headlamp, so both hands are free. Maybe with an adjustable lens to point it up and down. Make it so.

Oh but seriously, programmable, animated tattoos would be pretty cool. I might get one of those. :)

Re:Actually

[Securityemo]

And there's that second problem to overcome with "real" cyberware...

Re:Actually

[14erCleaner]

I thought of the glowing numbers on John Nash's arm in "A Beautiful Mind". He was just hallucinating a few decades ahead of his time.

Re:Actually

[blair1q]

1 kcal (food calorie) is 4187 joules, or watt-seconds.

So 1 watt continuos power is about .00024 kcal/second.

A typical LED will light at 1.7 v and 15 mA, or about 25 mW.

Meaning you need about 6e-6 kcal/second to keep it lit.

Glucose is about 4 kcal per gram, so it would consume about 1.5e-6 grams of glucose per second, roughly 90 ug/minute, or 3.5 mg/hr.

For comparison, an average person walking at average speed burns about 100 kcal/hr, which is about 120 watts, but conversion to external work is only about 25% efficient so you can expect to light a 30-watt incandescent bulb walking on a treadmill, or roughly a thousand LEDs. Note, the conversion from LED to LED display isn't direct, as display LEDs are very small and put out less power than discretes; looking up AMOLED shows you can get away with maybe 100 mw total for something with tens of thousands of pixels, and one person on a treadmill could keep a few hundred of those lit.

But if you don't want a treadmill, you still need to find a way to convert the glucose to electricity. Right now the only way to get from here to there is burning the glucose (i.e., self-propagating exothermic oxidation) to make steam energy to drive a dynamo. Even the processes in neural and muscular action aren't a direct conversion; they're electromechanical systems that first use the splitting of bonds in glucose to activate ion-pumping channels that push charged particles to opposite sides of a membrane; then when the channels are triggered they open wide to allow the charges to flood back across, creating an electromagnetic wave along a neuronal wire (axon) or catalyzing further mechanical action in the large molecular levers and ratchets (actin/myosin) that shorten muscle fibers (myofibrils).

So we're back to needing a mechanical source of electricity and batteries. Maybe implant piezo or electromechanical generators in the larger joints, and do a few jumping jacks every few minutes to recharge.

Re:Actually

[davester666]

Oh, like you need to use both hands at the same time...

Re:Actually

[DrgnDancer]

What about using the kinetic energy from like arm swings or something to turn mini turbines on a wrist band or something (along the line of those self winding watches, but converting the energy to electricity and storing it in small batteries). Of course now we're back to having got wear something... Having a turbine, no matter how small, implanted just sound unpleasant.

Re:Actually

[Anonymous Coward]

or letting everyone in a pitch black room know exactly how you feel about them

"I'm doing this as hard as I can"

Re:Actually

[Anonymous Coward]

1) Tattoos
2) add drugs
3) add flashing lights
4) ...
5) err, just another night in a disco?

Re:Actually

[Monkeedude1212]

But then you don't have the utility of being able to angle the light source in different ways. Sometimes its better for angled reflective objects if the light is above the object to reflect into your eye, as opposed to coming from your head and then reflecting away.

Re:Actually

[shadowfaxcrx]

Maybe with an adjustable lens to point it up and down.

I have a beam-angle-adjustment mechanism already. It's called a neck ;)

Re:Actually

[mcgrew]

You're a programmer, aren't you ;)

You could convert the body's kinetic energy (you know, the movement the chemical reactions in your muscles cause) to electricity in a lot of ways.

But personally, I'd rather not have anything unnecessary implanted in my body (although I am in fact a cyborg; I have a CrystaLens implant in my eye)

Re:Actually

[myrdos2]

ET Phone Home

Re:Actually

[Chris Burke]

Sometimes its better for angled reflective objects if the light is above the object to reflect into your eye, as opposed to coming from your head and then reflecting away.

But only rarely is this better if it costs you the use of your hand.

If you want light coming from arbitrary angles, get a snake light. :)

Re:Actually

[Chris Burke]

Yes but you may want to adjust the angle relative to your face, or to get a good angle for the light without it being a bad angle for your neck.

I say this from personal experience with headlamps, where ones that have an adjustable tilt are much more useful than ones without.

Re:Actually

[blair1q]

No, actually, I'm a biomedical engineer who does software because at the time I got my degree it paid about 4X as much and had about 400X as many interesting things going on. Now it's about parity on both fronts.

When I said "implant piezo or electromechanical generators in the larger joints" I was using "the movement the chemical reactions in your muscles cause".

Though it occurs to me now that what we need is a battery muscle. A dish-grown copy of a bicep, say, that is implanted somewhere under the skin (horizontally across the forward processes of the pelvis, say, where most people store belly fat as a bulge anyway) attached to a linear electromechanical generator and coopting a nerve from a small, little-used, almost unnecessary, possibly evolutionary-holdover muscle such as the cremaster. It wouldn't be hard to learn how to move that muscle with that nerve. Then, whenever your eye-implanted display shows "LO BATT", you'd think "waggle my nuts" over and over again, and soon it would show the "FULL BATT" icon.

Re:Actually

[Anonymous Coward]

If you're going to use the body's glucose, why not consume it in a similar manner? I suppose that would increase the amount of food we need, but regarding the percentage of the population that is overweight, I don't think there is a problem here.. Then again, 'in a similar manner' is probably the hard part here.

Re:Actually

[Lotana]

Fascinating. You bio-engineers must have all kinds of fun.

Got a newsletter to subscribe to?

Re:Actually

[blair1q]

No, we watch a lot of Food Network, and get more out of it than the usual cook.

Re:Actually

[iamhassi]

"getting rid of the screen on your phone and stick it in your palm or forearm"

No thanks, I hand my phone to other people too often, besides I don't want to go through surgery for a new phone every 2 years.

Re:Actually

[iamhassi]

"I have a beam-angle-adjustment mechanism already. It's called a neck ;)"

Some people no longer have these "neck" things you speak of, so we have to find alternatives. Fortunately the people without necks just happen to have fingers the size of sausages so putting a Maglite in there is no problem.

Re:Actually

[c0lo]

So we're back to needing a mechanical source of electricity and batteries. Maybe implant piezo or electromechanical generators in the larger joints, and do a few jumping jacks every few minutes to recharge.

What about an implantable fuel cell "burning" the glucose through a membrane? (just google)

Re:Actually

[shadowfaxcrx]

-laughs-

Well played.

Re:Actually

[blair1q]

You'd need 1. a new catalyst to crack the glucose, 2. a new membrane that allows the glucose (or the oxygen) through, and 3. a way to pressurize the glucose (while fuel cells are positive energy balance, they take quite a bit of work input on the feed side that can be bled from the output side). And you'd have to make sure that the electrochemical reaction at the glucose/catalyst interface is the correct net polarity to provide electrons to the circuit, or the reaction at the oxygen/catalyst side won't work.

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/fuel-efficiency/alternative-fuels/fuel-cell2.htm

Re:Actually

[Khyber]

"Actually I imagined hooking up a super powerful LED to some nerve endings on the tips of my finger, then using it as a flashlight at any moment by training my brain to trigger the on-off switch like a muscle reaction."

Enjoy frying your finger as the diodes, without any active cooling or heat sink besides your body, heats up to a temperature hot enough to slag the diode after about 10 seconds of operation.

Re:Actually

[Khyber]

So wear piezo-electric clothing and go for a stroll.

Or, get one of those LED flashlights that work simply by shaking them for a minute or two, hook up the charging device to your arm, shake a bit, turn it on.

Re:Actually

[Khyber]

Just FYI we're using piezo-electrics in new power generating wind stations. Looks like long hairs sticking up into the wind.

Re:Actually

[socz]

Oh man wouldn't that be something? "yeah I can't work tomorrow morning because I'm getting my new phone put in!"

I am still thinking of a ghost in the shell like future! If we have artificial arms and legs, it could be as easy as sticking 2 lego together!

Re:Actually

[snookums]

It seems some people are making progress on the glucose fuel cell.

Current tech can only produce about 6.5 microwatts per cell, which is not nearly enough for a regular LED, but it's a step in the right direction.

Re:Actually

[Idiomatick]

:P All fine and dandy. But if you look up under skin displays they posit using glucose +oxygen to generate the electricity. In almost every article you find going back 50 years. Seriously. I was just saying that the idea isn't novel. No idea how far serious scientists have gotten with the idea. I thought using specially tagged bioluminescent proteins would be more viable. Only really visible at night mind you. We could just use the tech to stimulate the glow function of the cells. (But this involves gene manips which people aren't too hot on.

Re:Actually

[mcgrew]

Interesting comment, you should have been modded up.

My implant is entirely mechanical, powered and controlled by the eye's focusing muscles.

Re:Actually

[blair1q]

Looked it up. Apparently the "windstalk" is conceptual at this point, unless you've got one that's called something else and answers to "piezo-electrics in new power generating wind stations".

Re:Actually

[Khyber]

Conceptual for them, we built something similar by using discarded electric lighter piezos back in high school.

Yay Ms. Levi's physics class at Germantown high School! Beating out concepts by an easy decade.

Or

[Quiet_Desperation]

to immediately think, 'glowing tattoos,'

My thought was "animated tattoos tied to pulse and temperature monitors so the tattoo could display imagery to indicate my current mood."

Happy kitten means come and sit a spell. Mushroom cloud means someone needs killin'.

Re:Or

[Anonymous Coward]

to immediately think, 'glowing tattoos,'

My thought was "animated tattoos tied to pulse and temperature monitors so the tattoo could display imagery to indicate my current mood."

Happy kitten means come and sit a spell. Mushroom cloud means someone needs killin'.

An erection means I'm happy to see you.

Re:Or

[sammyF70]

the kitten part is probably right on ... I can already picture the "Animated Hello Kitty" tattoos.

Re:Or

[DoofusOfDeath]

Or...

Under-the-skin indicator for blood sugar levels in diabetics.

Re:Or

[Hatta]

Happy kitten means come and sit a spell. Mushroom cloud means someone needs killin'.

I don't want to know what both together would mean.

Re:Or

[JaredOfEuropa]

Well, it does all that, and it injects drugs. Sounds like a winner...

Re:Or

[sharkey]

And unlocking the goatse Easter egg means?

Re:Or

[bughunter]

Happy kitten means come and sit a spell. Mushroom cloud means someone needs killin'.

I don't want to know what both together would mean.

It means you are Takashi Murakami, obviously.

Re:Or

[slyrat]

Or...

Under-the-skin indicator for blood sugar levels in diabetics.

There is actually a tattoo in the works that does this. Here is the link: diabetes tattoo But using leds instead could work too.

Re:Or

[Haxamanish]

My thought was "animated tattoos tied to pulse and temperature monitors so the tattoo could display imagery to indicate my current mood."

Minmatar War Tattoos

Re:hm.

[the_one_wesp]

On top of that, you'd be able to take a wiz in the dark without fear of missing :D What you do risk, though, is awkward questions like "Is that a glow worm in your pocket or... "

Advertisements

[rakuen]

So how long until I start getting spam messages about how I can use this to make my penis glow in the dark?

Re:Advertisements

[Anonymous Coward]

Me thinking.. that having read how immediately that you thought of that, your penis probably already glows in the dark..

Re:Advertisements

[rakuen]

Nah, I just do improv a lot, and so have a very quick mind. ...maybe my mind glows in the dark? o_o;

Re:Advertisements

[Dishevel]

You have a quick mind and an even quicker penis?

Re:Advertisements

[Khyber]

They *DO* call him the two-pump chump!

Advertising

[circletimessquare]

You could be paid an unlimited lifetime supply of deodorant if you have the glowing LED tattoo "Deodorant levels low, buy more Axe Body Spray" tattooed on your hairy, gold chain festooned chest, which will of course be visible, since your shirt will be buttoned down to your crotch.

Excellent...

[srussia]

Now I don't have to take off my Tron suit... EVER

Re:Excellent...

[karnal]

Why would you need a tron suit? From what I can tell you could pepper your body with these devices and run around naked.... looking like you're in a tron suit.

Re:Excellent...

[srussia]

Why would you need a tron suit? From what I can tell you could pepper your body with these devices and run around naked.... looking like you're in a tron suit.

Exactly!

How do these two go together?

[vlm]

bio-compatible LED arrays that can ... be implanted under the skin

they could also be incorporated into consumer goods, robotics

What kind of robot needs bio-compatible LED arrays? What kind of consumer good ends up implanted under the skin? Even 7 of 9 would technically be a cyborg as opposed to robot.

I suppose you could embed very high efficiency red and blue LEDs and some algae in your lungs, and run the LEDs off stored body fat...

Re:How do these two go together?

[Monkeedude1212]

Robotics can now be flexible, is basically the idea.

Re:How do these two go together?

[Khyber]

"What kind of robot needs bio-compatible LED arrays?"

The kind of robot that could target your skin with those LEDs and activate light-sensitive drugs, so a human doctor can be left to do analysis of other patients.

"What kind of consumer good ends up implanted under the skin?"

Hmm, piercings, body mods, maybe mood ring/indicators? Maybe flashlight eyes like in the original Deus Ex?

"I suppose you could embed very high efficiency red and blue LEDs and some algae in your lungs, and run the LEDs off stored body fat..."

Trust me, typical high-efficiency diodes that wouldn't sear your lungs (aka lite-brite diodes) are not sufficient enough to grow algae in any decent quantity (see my sig for how I know this.) The ones you would need would char your lungs, plus slag themselves inside your body after about ten seconds of operation.

Glowing Cylon Spines?

[NEDHead]

I got nothing else to add

Re:Glowing Cylon Spines?

[Anonymous Coward]

Glowing boobies...

My work is done.

Re:Glowing Cylon Spines?

[NEDHead]

Wait! I'm not done! Mood Boobies! Finally we will know if they really are interested...

Re:Glowing Cylon Spines?

[DrPeper]

Mmmmmm Tron style bodies! Can't wait to see the first pr0n! It certainly would make the whole strip clubs scene much more enticing!

Robotics and medical uses are good, but...

[Anonymous Coward]

Glowing tattoos would be a best-seller, even at high prices, just because it's unique and eye-catching.

Re:Robotics and medical uses are good, but...

[Toze]

Potential users of implantable LCD for medical purposes: small number.
Potential users of implantable LCD for fashion or entertainment purposes: large number.

Like robotic prostheses, the groundbreaking work will be done for medical reasons, where money is no object. However, the technology will see many more improvements in cost, efficiency, and useability once it becomes useful to a larger group.

Re:Robotics and medical uses are good, but...

[Gilmoure]

Setting up a bunch of folks with glowing tattoos and tapping in to their display control network so you can use them for a giant living game of Tetris?

Re:Robotics and medical uses are good, but...

[Charliemopps]

For about a month it'd be unique.

Games Workshop predicted this in 1985 Rogue Trader

[Anonymous Coward]

This exact tech was discussed in the technology section of Rogue Trader 40k. The main purpose was glowing tattoos and digital wristwatches without the

Cloak of Anarchy

[Nom du Keyboard]

Larry Niven long ago wrote about an Implant Watch in "Cloak of Anarchy". Of course his was analog...

Re:Cloak of Anarchy

[hitmark]

With a big enough led array, it could be analog, digital or even nerdtastic binary.

Enter Sandman

[drjoe1e6]

I hope these are ready for the inevitable remake of Logan's Run!

Neat

[Wyatt Earp]

I have a needle phobia and have to get regular tests for RBC/WBC/platelets and hormone levels.

I'd love a solution to my levels that doesn't require a stick into my crappy veins and three to four vials of blood.

Re:Neat

[tirerim]

I don't have a needle phobia, but as I currently have to puncture my fingers multiple times a day to check my blood sugar, an implanted device that could give me a readout would be pretty awesome.

Re:Neat

[OglinTatas]

I'd like to see this as a glucose monitor powered by glucose itself. Perhaps the array would begin to glow at 75 mmol/dL and increase in intensity from there. If it is off or laser pointer bright you are in trouble. Perhaps tie it in with an insulin pump so you only have to find one port site whenever you need to move the pump.

Re:Neat

[Wyatt Earp]

Yea, I feel for you diabetics.

Little needles like a finger prick don't bother me, IVs of any type make me twitch.

Kept me from trying heroin though ;)

Re:Neat

[Mister Whirly]

Well, you can snort or smoke heroin too. Note: I am not recommending it though.

Re:Neat

[Khyber]

Diabetic Tattoos: Another slashdotter above mentioned them: http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1838216&cid=34016638

Re:hm.

[NatasRevol]

Women can have them implanted in their chest, just above their cleavage:

Look Here
            V

Ooh! Oooh!

[Anonymous Coward]

PIPBoys!

Finally!

[Locke2005]

At last there is hope for those of us that have problems finding the hole in the dark!

Re:Finally!

[Bemopolis]

I didn't realize that truck stop bathrooms were so poorly lit.

Re:Finally!

[Anonymous Coward]

At last there is hope for those of us that have problems finding the hole in the dark!

That's the WRONG hole!

Re:Finally!

[Syberz]

It would probably be easier and cheaper to just unzip the eye slits of your latex gimp mask.

Re:Finally!

[BlackSnake112]

At last there is hope for those of us that have problems finding the hole in the dark!

That's the WRONG hole!

That is what she said....

Re:Finally!

[need4mospd]

Yep, both of us!

Re:hm.

[JSC]

If they're high enough intensity and properly installed (forward pointing) and you'll never need that Flashlight app on your phone ever again.

Re:hm.

[Locke2005]

Or...

^ My eyes are up THERE!

Re:hm.

[JSC]

OK, just to get it said and out of the way...

Wow, check out the headlights on that girl over there!!!

Well then WHERE are my net-enabled contacts...

[gestalt_n_pepper]

How could I find my way around without google's constant help?

Re:hm.

[19thNervousBreakdown]

Hey, that's a great idea, if a guy notices the sign, she knows he's gay!

Oblig

[ddxexex]

http://xkcd.com/644/

Re:Games Workshop predicted this in 1985 Rogue Tra

[M8e]

This exact tech was discussed in the technology section of Rogue Trader 40k. The main purpose was glowing tattoos and digital wristwatches without the ending of this sentence.

Right?

Tramp Stamp

[PPH]

Now serving number ____.

Re:Tramp Stamp

[BlackSnake112]

Now serving number ____.

I saw a girl with a tattoo that said this on her lower back (tramp stamp area). I think is was a henna tattoo. It was dark, but did not look like a regular tattoo. It still made me laugh though.

Re:Tramp Stamp

[Anonymous Coward]

lol

Re:Tramp Stamp

[rubycodez]

ultra-tramp stamp: inverted words on the ass or back of thigh

"sperm bank depository"
"ride: one nickel"

but then there's

"if you can read this, you'd better be holding engagement ring"

Re:Tramp Stamp

[PPH]

"Please don't set your beer down here"

Ever wonder what those Chinese character tatoos actually say?

Re:Tramp Stamp

[rubycodez]

there was a web site that covered asian pictograph tattoos, short version that to chinese/japanese/korean people those tattoos read like they were written by schoolchildren, psychos, 'tards, or criminals.

you can check it out in the WayBack machine, pick a time snapshot:

http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.hanzismatter.com/

Re:hm.

[Anonymous Coward]

Is that even necessary? Seems like we look anyway.

Re:hm.

[FatdogHaiku]

Once they get the optics refined we will have the ultimate WANG LASER!!!
[insert_evil_laugh_here]

obligatory

[Anonymous Coward]

"Hey Christmas Tree" (Arlnold Schwartzeneggar to Dynamo in the Running Man)

Similar tech has been in use more than a decade..

[Anonymous Coward]

..by Canada's QLT Inc. to "activate" their light-sensitive anti-cancer drugs.

Old news is exciting!

Hence that well known song...

[thewils]

...you light up my prostate.

spine implants

[jollyreaper]

To glow red and pulse up and down, for when you're making little cylons with your favorite hoomanz.

By Neruos

[Anonymous Coward]

So...

If I'm diabetic and my insulin levels are low, I no longer need to prick my finger or draw blood. I can look at my insulin 'health led bar' and when it drops or changes color, I can take my shot. Would be awesome?

Same for any other illness that requires some sort of monitoring.

Re:hm.

[mcgrew]

Well, we've already had wang computers.

All the secretaries just LOVED the wangs...

Popups

[FalconZero]

Great - so when my wireless internet enabled skin display gets infected with spam, I'll have adverts for viagra appearing on my chest. Brilliant

Re:Popups

[SheeEttin]

Great - so when my wireless internet enabled skin display gets infected with spam, I'll have adverts for viagra appearing on my chest. Brilliant

It... It won't be your chest they'll be advertising on. ;_;

Re:Popups

[c0lo]

Great - so when my wireless internet enabled skin display gets infected with spam, I'll have adverts for viagra appearing on my chest. Brilliant

You just need to plug in the NoScript.

So many applications.

[Eggbloke]

A watch embedded in your arm is the first thing I thought of that would be pretty cool.

LOGAN's RUN

[hachete]

Now, where's Jenny Agutter ...

Re:LOGAN's RUN

[Xerolooper]

So your saying that we could use them to track a persons age. That would be fine at first. No more wondering if that special someone you pick up for the night is really of age or not. Don't worry about remembering your ID when going on a beer run. We'll all know if your eligible to be president. Until the mandatory "retirement" age is lowered to 30 and anyone not reporting for recycling is labeled a runner.

They did this in Logan's Run didn't they?

[Anonymous Coward]

And look where that took us?

People on the run as their crystals turned black and were sent to execution chambers.

-- Mmmmm. Tasty treats! What do you call them?

    Soylent Green

Bio-compatible carcinogen?

[Anonymous Coward]

These LEDs are made of gallium arsenide, which is listed as a carcinogen.

I don't think "bio-compatible" means what they think it means.

Re:Bio-compatible carcinogen?

[Comrade Ogilvy]

The details matter, like whether it is embedded within glass, frex. By your definition, a pacemaker contains even more material that is too dangerous to be put within a human body. Sodium and chlorine are both viciously corrosive to organic material in quantity when applied in pure form. Yet you cannot live without them.

Re:Bio-compatible carcinogen?

[Khyber]

You assume that alloy isn't ENCASED in something.

Hint: 100% of diodes are encased, usually in resin or glass.

Great!

[chord.wav]

I won't have to wear pants anymore! I will have to just turn on the Levis screen saver... And of course the first thought that crossed our minds: Mmmmm shiiiny boobs...

Re:hm.

[xTantrum]

I love how its supposed to be bio-compatible but the researcher is wearing a glove. Ha! Way to inspire public confidence.

teletubbies

[Anonymous Coward]

teletubbies! i can now live my childhood dream

hrmph

[Charliemopps]

Color me not impressed. The pictures in the article make it look like crap. I'm fairly sure I could have done better in my garage.

Sort of Tattoo-ish

[Tjp($)pjT]

I first thought of implanting a wireless connected display for a map display / GPS with of course time and temp and other environmental info. And optionally things like a nitro/blood gas meter for diving. I have a lot of forearm "display" space just going to waste. Now that it can display things, can they intercept the nerve impulses so I have a "touch" keyboard and graphics cursor / trackpad there too. Just putting on my shades, 'cuz the futures so bright. Of course the spy-tech comes to mind too so you can have a cheat sheet / active sit-rep display literally in the palm of your hand. Just make the emitters require special contacts to see.

I like how you think!

[WheelDweller]

But let's check the data's source, first. Slashdot. Often times 'breakthroughs' are noted here to get grant money. I can't tell you how many times since about 1996 I've seen "flexible LCD displays for $10" and similar claims I've yet to see.

Until I pat someone on the back and they glow, I'm not getting my hopes up.

BUT YOU: get to the patent center, NOW.

From TFA

[Heed00]

That array was added to a pre-stretched sheet of rubber, which was then itself encapsulated inside another piece of rubber, this one being bio-compatible and transparent.