Neck tattoo? Yes please...

The reputation of the tattoo has changed quite a bit throughout the years. According to Smithsonian.com, humans have marked their bodies with tattoos for thousands of years. These permanent designs-sometimes plain, sometimes elaborate, always personal- have served as amulets, status symbols, declarations of love, signs of religious beliefs  adornments and even forms of punishment. But never before have they performed a legitimate function. Not until now. 

Thanks to Google, tattoos aren't just for bad boys anymore. Google's mobility division has applied for a patent on a neck tattoo that electronically provides voice input to a mobile communication device (MCD) for hands free communication. I have always made fun of people with horrific neck tattoos(in my own head of course), but this is some Sci-Fi, minority report type stuff.  

Apparently the tattoo would include a tiny microphone, receiver and power supply. The tattoo would be able to pick up acoustic signals from a person's throat and submit these to their handset using near field communication or Bluetooth. It is designed to reduce the amount of "extra noise" that phones pick up in our world today.





With Google glass and the new Samsung smart watches I can't wait to see what people are going to look like within the next 10 years. Science fiction is quickly becoming all too real. Neck tattoos seem a bit lame. I think I'll wait until I can get a receiver in my thumb and a microphone in my pinky and make a convenient little hand phone.