Google Mulls Creating 'Smart Tattoos' to Turn Skin Into Touchpads

Search engine giant Google is reportedly working on "smart tattoos" that which will be embedded with sensors and turn the human body into touchpads.

The idea is part of a wearable project from Google Research called "SkinMarks". Google has provided funding to a group of researchers from Germany's Saarland University to develop the technology.

"This paper presents SkinMarks, an enabling technology for interaction on body landmarks. SkinMarks are highly conformal interactive tattoos, which enable precisely localised input and output on five types of body landmarks", a white paper recently published by Saarland University noted.

The news has gone viral on social networking platforms in India, but as of now, nobody seems to be taking this too seriously. Google Glasses – that function as a hands-free smartphone, letting users access a mobile internet browser, camera, maps, calendar, and other apps by voice commands – could not make a strong impact on the global market. They were one of the company’s most awaited wearable products that ended in disappointment.

Some are also calling out Google for trying to turn humans into tech-powered robots.

​How Will They Work?

The tattoos are created by screen printing conductive ink onto tattoo paper that will stick on the skin for designs and be removed once the design gets on the skin.

The rub-off sensor-driven tattoos are applied to a body part with an even skin surface. The sensors in the tattoos will respond to touch and swipe gestures on the skin.

According to the Saarland University white paper, "You could squeeze the area around the tattoo or bend your fingers or limbs to activate the sensors".

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