Jessica Shawcroft
The Paw Print
We all, most likely, know someone who has a tattoo; maybe they’re a close friend of ours or maybe just an acquaintance or someone we share a class with. We admire the artwork and ask for any reason or meaning to it, and then maybe we think about getting a tattoo like it. The same goes for smart phones. Basically everyone has one, and it seems smart phones are becoming necessary to live our everyday lives. You can keep in touch with friends using your smart phone and display something that had an impact on your life through a tattoo, but what if they were combined?
A digital tattoo is now possible. We’ve all seen the codes we scan with our phones to get discounts or learn more about a specific product. The digital tattoo would follow the same format. A small chip encased in glass would be implanted between the thumb and index finger. The chip would contain a GIF of pixelated colors which can be read by a smartphone. These tattoos are changeable so it’s not the same thing for the rest of your life. You can also remove the chip, which would remove the tattoo. A lot of people contemplate their tattoos because they’re not sure they want the same thing on their body when they’re 50. The chip is similar to a floppy disk and holds 1KB so anything 1KB or less can be inserted into your hand.
The first man to try this out is named Anthony Antonellis; he visited a body modification specialist to have the chip inserted into his hand. Anthony chose to have a rainbow inserted into his hand, anyone who holds their phone up to his hand can view the tiny animated GIF. He says he wants to help distribute artwork by creating an app and making this worldwide.
Something to think about however, we begin with digital tattoos and then what? We start storing personal information on these? Any allergies we have, our medical history in case we get into an accident and crews need to know who we are. What if we use it to pay our bills or buy things online? If someone ever wants our information, it would be easily accessible. This could even allow others access into our phones, at first just to view the digital tattoo, but eventually someone is going to hack further. People could steal each other’s photos, personal information, contacts, and passwords.
So, what do you think? Are you running to body modification specialist? Are you asking the person sitting next to you if they have a digital tattoo? These aren’t visible without the app and for now, unless the person points it out, we’d never know they have one. Sure, it’s less pain than an actual tattoo, presumably, but it’s new and who knows what the complications may entail.
What’s Been Said…