Researchers turn tattoos into controller for any computer

A new technology would allow users to control their computer from tattoos.

DuoSkin, developed by MIT Media Lab and Microsoft Research, allowed users to create customised gold metal leaf print tattoos that could be worn directly on the skin. The temporary tattoos could serve as touchpad inputs, display outputs, and wireless communication devices.

''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 materials we use enable it to be aesthetic and to reflect a metallic look.''

The process is almost entirely driven by gold leaf, which had been seen before in picture frames or floating in overpriced vodka.

With the invention people, would be able to create one of three types of devices, the tattoos could be used as touchpad or as a controller inputs for things like music devices.

They could also be used as an output device to show things like when a person's body temperature. Finally, the invention could be used as a wireless communication device to host NFC tags like movie or concert tickets.

The team of researchers emphasised that they wanted to make the system accessible to as many people as possible.

The temporary tattoos which are made of gold leaf (and sometimes LEDs ) are applied just like any other temporary tattoo. The tattoos look more like jewelry than the temporary tattoos of decades past.

To visualise the tattoos as kind of touchscreen or trackpad one could think of Google's Project Jacquard (which embedded sensors into clothing to create "wearable" touchpads.)

Other researchers who are working to develop wearable electronics have reached a milestone - they are able to embroider circuits into fabric with 0.1 mm precision - the perfect size to integrate electronic components such as sensors and computer memory devices into clothing. Computer in your clothes? A milestone for wearable electronics (http://www.domain-b.com/technology/20160415_milestone.html)

However, with DuoSkin, the sensors are embedded within the tattoos, which allowed them to connect to a computer or smartphone so could control apps by swiping on the tattoo.