Registered on the 15th of March this year, Nokia, the world famous phone maker filed a patient for Haptic Communication. Which is described as:
an apparatus comprises: a material attachable to skin, the material capable of detecting a magnetic field and transferring a perceivable stimulus to the skin, wherein the perceivable stimulus relates to the magnetic field.
For those not versed in the technical jargon, that is a tatoo that vibrates when paired with a mobile device, so your skin will literally move to tell you that you have a call.
In the 2 weeks since the announcement there has been an interesting number of responses both good and bad. I actually stumbled across this article which is a more negative but understandable slant on the idea.
Personally I like the idea, as long as it could be paired with anything and not tied to one brand, if I was going to get a permanent alteration to my body like this, as the previous author rightly said, I would not like it to only work for the current generation of smart phone and only for Nokia. By the basic premise of it, it does not sound like it is tied in that way, but time will tell. Openness is key for this to kick off.
References
- Unwiredview.com – Nokia is looking into haptic tattoos to help you feel who’s calling
- APAltPress – Haptic tattoos may soon help you feel who’s calling
- Death and Taxes – Nokia patenting vibrating tattoos that ring with your phone
- US Patent and Trademark Office – Application 20120062371
- Physorg.com – Nokia feels out haptic feedback tattoo system for phones
