Last Updated:
Blending Form and Function

Talk About Blending Form and Function

Benjamin Vitaris
Benjamin Vitaris Science

Of course you must have noticed that the catch phrase wearable technology first started to catch hold in the early part of 2016 and is now a common everyday term. Yet you are about to discover an entirely new approach to wearable technology that may send you on trip down memory lane to some of the earlier SciFi movies and television shows.

In a word, it is about a remarkable new wearable technology that allows the use of what look to be temporary tattoos to be used as connected interfaces. Take note that this new technology which is currently labeled DuoSkin comes from the famed MIT Media Lab in conjunction with Microsoft Research.

Interestingly, the origin of DuoSkin is a story in and of itself. According to Cindy Hsin-Liu Kao, PhD Student at the MIT Media Lab, it is quite clear that so-called temporary tattoos fashioned with metallic materials is a fast growing trend that shows no sign of slowing down. Interestingly, Kao and her cohorts at the MIT Media Lab set out to take advantage of this trend and determine a technology to turn these metallic tattoos into what the researchers refer to as interconnected interfaces.

In other words, configuring these metallic tattoos to function as an input alternative for devices you already use everyday. Think your Smartphone, your desktop computer or even your television remote. Think about it this way; instead of reaching over to manually punch in a number to dial, you simply tap the number you want to call right there on your wrist. Obviously this is a better alternative than the so-called voice dialing which as you know, has the rather annoying habit of dialing the wrong number at the worst of times. At the same time, supposing you had a blue tooth headset in your ear, you can dial and talk without even picking up or even looking at your smartphone.

Obviously there are many many more possible uses of this DuoSkin. You can reasonably expect to see much more about DuoSkin in the coming months. Not only is DuoSkin a practical and easy to use wearable technology product it is also remarkable inexpensive. Moreover, the DuoSkin system is specifically engineered from the offset to be easy and straightforward to setup and use, even for the non-techie crowd.

Bottom line: wearable technology just took a giant leap into the future with the new DuoSkin from MIT Media Lab. Look for DuoSkin coming your way soon.