Do you ever get tired of holding your phone to your face? How about trying to chat in loud, crowded places?
No need to fuss. Motorola’s got you covered with its latest patent application: a smartphone microphone that’s tattooed onto your neck. Just think, you could have a little piece of Google embedded right into your body.
According to the patent application, said neck tattoo would pick up sound by reading the “fluctuations of muscle or tissue in the throat” and sending it to a smartphone or other device wirelessly. It’ll be equipped with Bluetooth and NFC technology and “may or may not be rechargeable.” The application is a little bit cagey about whether this “electronic skin tattoo” is permanent (read: stabbed into your skin with needles) or something you can just stick on. Either way, what a fun and subtle way to become a cyborg.
https://gizmodo.com/electronic-sensor-tattoos-can-now-be-printed-directly-o-5989948
For the record, this does not seem like an invention that’s going to hit stores any time soon. Tech companies are constantly filing silly patent applications like this, if for no other reason than to ward off potential patent trolls. From Apple’s digital slap bracelet to Sony’s crazy interactive TV, plenty of these ideas are laughably far-fetched and totally weird. But they’re inventions. And nothing celebrates a good invention like a bunch of paperwork and government bureaucracy. [USPT via Engadget]
