Chaotic Moon Studios, a software design company, has unveiled temporary wearables that combine conductive paint with tiny electronic components to create working circuits on the surface of the skin.
On the tattoo, an ATiny85 microcontroller stores and receives data from temperature sensors through electro-conductive paint. In addition, there is room on the tattoo for an ambient light sensor that illuminates LEDs when it’s dark. A heart rate monitor, thermometer, NFC chip among other sensors can also be easily attached, allowing the tattoo to work as a fitness tracker, medical wearable, or payment system. You could check out at Starbucks by tapping your tattoo to the card reader; how cool is that?
The data from the tattoo will be sent wirelessly to an app on your phone done over Bluetooth Low Energy, which is the same wireless protocol that powers devices like the Amazon Dash button. With this new wearable, you can track your position in a marathon or monitor your temperature if you get sick.
And unlike fitness trackers, tech tats can be mounted on places other than your wrist. In the early stages, the tattoos still must be applied by hand, but the company is working on a technique to simplify the process similar to how we put on ordinary tattoos – just stick them on your arm and add some warm water.
While Chaotic Moon has yet to release a price for the tats, the devices will soon be accessible. The company even mentioned using a Band-Aid-like package to allow users to purchase them in bulk. We’re expected to hear more about these at CES in January.
Source: NBC News and Chaotic Moon
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