Slashdot Mirror
How High-Tech Temporary Tattoos Will Hack Your Skin
Molly McHugh writes with this story about sensors that can be attached to temporary tattoos to monitor various medical information. "The Center for Wearable Sensors at the University of California San Diego has been experimenting with attaching sensors to temporary tattoos in order to extract data from the body. The tattoos are worn exactly as a regular temporary tattoo would be worn. The sensors simply sit atop the skin without penetrating it and interact with Bluetooth or other wireless devices with a signal in order to send the data....A biofuel battery applied as a temporary tattoo converts sweat into energy, and a startup within the center has developed a strip that extracts data from sweat to explain how your body is reacting to certain types of exercise. Amay Bandodkar, a fourth year PhD student at UCSD, explains that the sensors are programmed to react to the amount of lactate the body produces."
They tend to be pretty permanent without some expensive laser treatment. Something all the 20 somethings who think they're cool by covering themselves in naff sub 1970s prog rock album cover style "gothic" art will come to realise when they hit their 40s and realise what looks cool when your 25 just looks like they're having a sad mid life crisis episode when they're 40.
Electronics that are aheavsively attached to your body.
Yes I know tattoos are popular now. But it isn't like a tattoo if you have electronics sticking out of your body.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
I've got an advanced device similar to this that can hack the environment, it's called a thermometer.
Oh, please tell me that the "biofuel battery applied as a temporary tattoo converts sweat into energy, and a startup within the center has developed a strip that extracts data from sweat" is really just an electrochemical battery (aka potato battery).
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
I didn't as you to play loud video as soon as the webpage load. This loud commercial for Verizon SUCK OUT ALOUD!
I say again, SHUT THE FUCK UP, SLASHDOT!
Sony warns.
... what about a tatoo that attaches to your skin and is responsive to your environment? So picture a tatoo that:
changes pattern/color in response to radiation or chemical agents in the air as an early warning;
changes pattern/color in response to bluetooth signals so you could have an animated pattern transmitted from your phone or a person near you could transmit a pattern, like a virtual sig block.
Not related to the article but tatoos could be way cooler ...
"Consensus" in science is _always_ a political construct.
Surface Detail anyone?
Orgnaic Circuitry Tattoos
http://peterfhamilton.wikia.com/wiki/OCtattoo
Nothing wrong with judging people based on how they dress. That's something they choose, and although there are exceptions, it's generally quite accurate in giving a good first impression of the person's wealth, interests, social status, and yes, intelligence. Feel free to dress how you want, but be prepared deal with consequences of it. Dressing poorly or in an alternative fashion can lead to you not getting the job, getting "randomly" inspected at airports while the guy in a suit goes through unchecked, or even getting beaten up for being different. I don't condone any of these things, but reality isn't some fairy tale where people can dress in any way they want and be treated equally.
And if people are judging you negatively because of your fashion sense, change it. Dress how you want people to perceive you.
I don't ever want a damn tattoo. What next... should start smoking?!
The gadget doesn't look like it should be limited to passing as a tattoo. We should see this as an opportunity to accessorize! But the models in TFA aren't into it. Catwalks! Sell it, baby!
Gently reply
I'm more worried about axe wielding maniacs hacking my skin.
So "hack" is now a synonym for the simple word "use" whenever it's cool?
"I hacked the door to go outside."
"I hacked the language so I could keep using the word 'hack' as much as possible."
-Styopa
I'm certain that the Cybermen are behind this.
With his hands in the pockets of his jacket, he stared through the glass at a flat lozenge of vatgrown flesh that lay on a carved pedestal of imitation jade. The color of its skin reminded him of Zone's whores; it was tattooed with a luminous digital display wired to a subcutaneous chip. Why bother with the surgery, he found himself thinking, while sweat coursed down his ribs, when you could just carry the thing around in your pocket?
There is no God, and Dirac is his prophet.
I'm holding out for some GM firefly butts to be inserted into my arm and hooked into my nervous system. When I flex or get threatened it'll light up! Maybe electric eel glands in my hands too for some extra oomph?
I look forward to our genetic engineering future.
This is a prime example why people block ads. Fucking lowlife advermertizers think yelling is how to get people to pay attention to them. Then they whine that you're stealing their content if you block their obnofuckinnoxious ads. fuck 'em.
Amay Bandodkar, a fourth year PhD student at UCSD, explains that the sensors are programmed to react to the amount of lactate the body produces.
This is an interesting idea. In endurance sports like running, cycling, cross country skiing, etc. there is a parameter that athletes tend to base their training around called "lactate threshold". It's basically the point at which your muscles being producing lactate faster than it can be "buffered" and it is believed this is what causes fatigue and "the burn" you get when you run too fast. You'll notice that if you run or cycle at an endurance pace (below your lactate threshold) you could continue that same effort for hours. When you go above your lactate threshold, you can only sustain that effort for minutes.
Currently the way it is commonly tested is like this (source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lactate_threshold): "Accurately measuring the lactate threshold involves taking blood samples (normally a pinprick to the finger, earlobe or thumb) during a ramp test where the exercise intensity is progressively increased. Measuring the threshold can also be performed non-invasively using gas-exchange (Respiratory quotient) methods, which requires a metabolic cart to measure air inspired and expired."
In other words you have to measure it in a lab, and you can't really measure it while "on the move". So you can imagine, it might be useful for athletes to just strap a patch onto their skin and have some wireless computer read out the data in real time (like a heart rate monitor)
Had cell phone spray ons.
http://i.imgur.com/RGBRx9S.gif