15 August,2016 12:52 PM IST | | mid-day online correspondent
Researchers have created a temporary metallic tattoo that can be used to control your computer, smartphone and other connected devices
Boston: Researchers have created a temporary metallic tattoo that can be used to control your computer, smartphone and other connected devices.
"These tattoos enable anyone to create interfaces directly on their skin," said Hsin-Liu Kao from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US.
These temporary tattoos called DuoSkin use layers of gold leaf - usually used to decorate photo frames and chocolates ¿ that act as a conductor and connect parts of a small, simple circuit.
This new technology lets anyone create their own durable, customised gold metal leaf temporary tattoo that can be worn directly on the skin and used in several ways, researchers said.
Tattoos that act as an input device can convert skin into a track pad, letting users connect to a computer or smartphone and control apps by swiping on the tattoo itself, they said.
The output devices are able to actually display information, 'ibtimes.co.uk' reported.
For example, one tattoo can change colour based on your body temperature. Another can be paired with an app developed by researchers called "Couple Harmony" and lets partners visualise each other's current mood.
The third class includes a near field communication (NFC)-enabled version of the tattoos that can be used as a wireless communication device, enabling you to communicate information such as "skin status" or movie tickets, by tapping a smartphone onto the tattoo.
Each tattoo can include an NFC chip, a thermochromatic layer or light emitting diode (LED) lights, Kao said.
A tattoo can reveal your alcohol levels
Earlier this month, researchers from a US university, developed a flexible wearable sensor -- consisting of a temporary tattoo which sticks to the skin -- that can accurately measure a person's blood alcohol level from sweat.
The device can be worn on the skin and could be used by doctors and police officers for continuous, non-invasive and real-time monitoring of blood alcohol content.
The device consists of a temporary tattoo -- which sticks to the skin, induces sweat and electrochemically detects the alcohol level -- and a portable flexible electronic circuit board, which is connected to the tattoo by a magnet and can communicate the information to a mobile device via Bluetooth. It could be integrated with a car's alcohol ignition interlocks, or friends could use it to check up on each other before handing over the car keys, the researchers added.
Tattoo-like 'e-skin' turns your body into digital screen
In April this year, researchers from the University of Tokyo have developed an ultrathin, protective layer that will help create "electronic skin" displays of blood oxygen level, e-skin heart rate sensors for athletes and other applications.
The team demonstrated its use by creating an air-stable, organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display. Using the new protective layer and ITO electrodes, the research group created polymer light-emitting diodes (PLEDs) and organic photodetectors (OPDs).
These were thin enough to be attached to the skin and flexible enough to distort and crumple in response to body movement.
This reduced heat generation and power consumption, making them particularly suitable for direct attachment to the body for medical applications such as displays for blood oxygen concentration or pulse rate. The group also combined red and green PLEDs with a photodetector to demonstrate a blood oxygen sensor.
- With inputs from agencies
