As controversial as this sounds, the future of technology will be biological, and body modification will play a huge part in how we use our computers, cell phones and even PDA’s in the next ten to twenty years. Organic technology is considered the brave new world for the next generation, drastically changing our relationship with our technology. Already people are implanting RFID tags under their skin to be used as keys to their house and identification in case of an emergency.
Even though the technology hasn’t been fully developed or tested, e-ink has the possibility to be tattooed directly onto the skin. These tattoos can then be modified very easily, and without the expensive, painful surgery that old fashioned tattoo removals require.
Patent Pending
It all began in 1999, when two men filed the first patent for e-ink based tattoos. The patent states that the ink would be tattooed into a matrix, so that it would be easy to change the desired image, the matrix acting like a computer screen. The matrix would be inserted using a special needle that had hooks on the edge, specifically made for implanting the tiny e-ink microbeads.
How you change the image on the tattoo is even more interesting. According to the patent, you would be able to either change the image by using a charged stylus and drawing your tattoos directly on your skin, or by using a skin printer. This printer would charge the appropriate picture from an image file on your computer, directly under your skin.
Inspiring a new Generation of
It didn’t take long for designers to start creating mock ups of where tattoo technology could take us in the near future. One of the first was a “design probe” by tech company Philips, well known for their television sets and DVD players as well as cutting edge tools and toys. The design probe was a video that was a bit like a science fiction art project, showing an electronic tattoo that moved and changed according to desire and emotion.
While the practicality of this version of the technology remains to be seen, the video for the design probe is startling and powerful. A more recent conceptual design was created for the Greener Gadgets Design Competition of 2008. It was titled The Digital Tattoo Interface, and was submitted by graphic artist Jim Mielke. The idea was simple and interesting-a computer that runs on blood and uses an e-ink tattoo as a display.
The image is startling, although we’re not sure how possible it is for a computer to run on blood cells. A more feasible idea might be one that somehow has photovoltaic cells also imprinted under the skin, and lets the tattoo computer run on solar power.
Still in the Making
As of yet we have no actual working prototypes for e-ink tattoos, or the technology behind them. It still might be a few more decades before we can stop by the local tattoo parlor and get some movable ink injected under the skin. Until then we can dream and dream big, and hope for one day to have our cellphone close by, right in the palm of our hands. Literally.
By Paul Jessup
concept design, e-ink, tattoo
[...] been most famously used in the Amazon Kindle books, but they’ve got other ideas for it like tattoos and watches. It can also be “printed” on flexible things like magazines and [...]