Nokia has been working on refining an interesting technology that it yesterday moved to patent; vibrating tattoos. Yes, you read that right. Nokia has created a type of ink that when applied onto the skin as a tattoo will be capable of vibrating or pulsing when your phone receives a notification.
The ink, which is made of ferromagnetic material, picks up the signal from your phone and alerts you either through a gentle vibration or pulsing sensation when you receive such usual mobile phone events as text message received, call received or calendar reminders, including ordinary notifications as low battery and change of profile. According to the BBC, Nokia has filed for the new cell phone alert technology with the US Patent and Trademark Office, which signals an intention to take the technology to the market.
According to the patent specifications in the application, the novel notification system will be programmable to either increase the intensity of the vibrations or pulses or reduce them. The ink will also be applicable on any part of the body including the finger tips, nails or abdominal region.
Nokia says that the tattoo can also be applied in transparent ink, which will make the markings invisible to the naked eye. This, Nokia hopes, will make the tattoo more appealing to those who may be averse to visible body markings. The application states further that the magnetic ink markings can be extended further to act as a marker between a user and their device meaning the device will not work unless the owner is nearby.
The invention does sound great but the big question here is, what about radiation from the magnetic ink and also, do you really want to have some creepy tattoo vibrating every time you get a text message? Let us know what you think of this in the comments below.
