Monday, November 11, 2013

Motorola wants to tattoo a smartphone receiver on your neck


Motorola wants to tattoo a smartphone receiver on your neck

November 8, 2013



James W Manning

Reporter




Google-owned smartphone maker Motorola has applied for a patent for an "electronic tattoo" on people's necks that doubles as a mobile microphone, lie detector and digital display.

mc10's flexible digital tattoo.
mc10's flexible digital tattoo. Photo: mc10inc.com

The tattoo would capture vibrations, or sound, directly from a user's throat, thus eliminating background noise that so often mars conversations over mobile phones.

A diagram of the electronic neck tattoo.

A diagram of the electronic neck tattoo. Photo: Motorola/US Patent & Trademark Office

The sound would then be transmitted from the electronic tattoo, which has its own power supply built-in, to a nearby smartphone via Bluetooth, near-field communication, also known as NFC, or the wireless technology ZigBee. 
"Mobile communication devices are often operated in noisy environments ... Communication can reasonably be improved and even enhanced with a method and system for reducing the acoustic noise in such environments and contexts," reads the patent
.

"The system comprises an electronic skin tattoo capable of being applied to a throat region of a body."

According to the patent, the device could also be used as a lie detector by measuring the skin's electrical conductance or "galvanic skin response" – the level at which electric current passes through something. 

"A user that may be nervous or engaging in speaking falsehoods may exhibit different galvanic skin response than a more confident, truth-telling individual," reads the patent.
The tattoo could even be fitted with a display and user interface for inputting commands, such as muting the device and joining a group conversation.

The device also has the potential to communicate with tablets and other mobile computing devices.
The patent, titled ''Coupling an electronic skin tattoo to a mobile communication device'' was filed in May 2012, and was published on Thursday in the US.
The neck tattoo is by no means the first foray into creative uses of technology for Motorola, which was bought by Google for $12 billion in 2011.
The company revealed its work with digital tattoos and password pills in May this year, and just last week Motorola unveiled Project Ara – a modular smartphone users can build and add to themselves.
It has focused on a new wearable tech unit since July, according to TechCrunch, while its parent company is hard at work on Google Glass, and is rumoured to be releasing a smart watch next year.
This latest move may be a sign of the future direction of Motorola, after comScore reported on Thursday the company's US share of the smartphone market shrank from 7.2 per cent in the quarter ending in June to 6.8 per cent in the quarter ending in September.
But exactly how users would operate a tiny touchscreen on their neck is anyone's guess.

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