Microsoft and MIT Researchers designed wearable “smart” tattoo control your smartphone

The technology will be presented at International Symposium on Wearable Computers 2016 in Heidelberg, starting September 12th, let us know in the comments if you think wearable tattoos could become mainstream in the future.

“Building such small and skin-friendly devices now requires expensive materials and equipment that is mostly found in the medical domain”, DuoSkin’s creators write.

“DuoSkin draws from the aesthetics found in metallic jewelry-like temporary tattoos to create on-skin devices which resemble jewelry”, the research team reports in its paper about the technology.

DuoSkin makes temporary tattoos even more an extension of oneself by allowing them to change color based on body temperature and mood, giving the example of a fire that would light up to show your emotion. Thirdly, the tattoos are capable of storing data which can be read by mobile handsets and other NFC- enabled devices.

The fabrication process is fairly simple: First, you design a stencil with any graphic design software, and cut the pattern out of tattoo paper and vinyl.

The DuoSkin project has been proved to work on a variety of skin tones and is more of a control pad which doesn’t project an entire readable touchscreen.

With the creation of DuoSkin, you can have a temporary tattoo that can do a whole lot more.

Then, the user would apply gold leaf as the conductive material.

Their new project called “Duo Skin” which is being developed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, combines embedded sensors and gold leaf into connective elements that act as interactive temporary tattoos. It is an opportunity to create something that blends fashion and functionality.

“These tattoos allow anyone to create interfaces directly on their skin”, says MIT PhD student Cindy Hsin-Liu Kao in a video announcement of the invention. The temporary tattoo can be created to nearly any unique look, and then transferred to gold leaf before being applied directly to skin.