KIRO NEWSRADIO

OMG! Never miss a text again thanks to vibrating tattoo

Mar 21, 2012, 3:07 PM | Updated: Oct 14, 2024, 9:40 am

vibrotatWhen it comes to text messages,
Ross and Burbank co-host Luke Burbank admits he exchanges
dozens every day and is constantly checking to make sure
he doesn’t miss one.

Now, thanks to a bizarre marriage of ink and silicon,
he’ll never have to worry again.

Phone maker Nokia has filed a patent for a vibrating
tattoo that could buzz your skin whenever you get a text
or call. Really.

And given Luke’s love of tattoos and technology, you’d
think he’d be all over it. But surprisingly, he’s not
enthused about turning his body into Bluetooth.

Listen to
Ross and Burbank on the proposed “vibrating
tattoo”

“I don’t understand what problem this solves,” says
Luke. “Right now in my pocket sits an iPhone on vibrate.
If someone were to text me right now I would feel that.”

According to published reports, the
patent proposes using a special kind of magnetic ink that
would act as a receiver for signals emitted by a user’s
phone.

You could even change settings for different types of
vibrations depending on whether you’re getting a text,
email or call.

Despite Luke’s less than enthusiastic response to the
idea, Producer Andrew does think it’ll solve a problem
that plagues many smartphone users-phantom vibrations.

“Sometimes I feel like I’m going insane. I’ll be
washing dishes. I’ll be like ‘oh gotta check that text,’
but there’s no phone. It’s just my leg vibrating.”

Luke says he has an even bigger issue, the sound of a
vibration of phone.

“I am now conditioned in a Pavlovian sense to sound of
vibrating and instinctively reach for the phone. You buzz
that thing and I start salivating. I’m like ‘where are the
steaks’?!”

“That’s Nokia’s next invention,” replies Dave.

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OMG! Never miss a text again thanks to vibrating tattoo