Vibrating Tattoo Patented By Nokia Alerts Users When Phone Rings

Finnish mobile phone developer Nokia has filed for a patent on a magnetic, vibrating tattoo or badge that alerts users when their phones are ringing.

According to the official patent filing, the apparatus would be able to detect a magnetic field and transfer a "perceivable stimulus" to users. The device could notify people about an incoming call, text or dead battery.

The Wall Street Journal obtained a copy of the patent application, which lists four inventors and a file date of Sept. 13, 2011.

The device could take different forms, including a visible tattoo, label or badge, that could be set to emit different vibration patterns -- much like customized ringtones -- to distinguish between different callers, according to the report.

Check out two possible designs (below).

LOOK: [via U.S. Patent and Trademark Office]

But for some, the prospect of getting inked in the name of technology is a bit too sci-fi for comfort.

Vlad Bobleanta, a writer for Unwired View, acknowledged Nokia's vibrating tattoo could be functional in certain situations, but said the device definitely "plung[es] into creepy territory."

And as Information Week's Eric Zeman observes: Just "think of all the places in which vibrating skin would be inappropriate or distracting in an impolite or even dangerous way."

No word yet on the potential health risks of the proposed device.

In a work-obsessed era where people are addicted to their BlackBerrys and iPhones, would a permanent tattoo make it too difficult to "unplug"? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

For more awesome concepts that we hope to see someday, check out the coolest Apple patent filings.

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Comments

[Javier Pichardo]

03:06 PM on 06/18/2012

oh wow technology is amazing he he!

www.FreeTattoos.net

[Oksana Kretzky]

09:12 PM on 03/28/2012

What happens when you change carriers? D: now you just have a regular, non-vibed out tattoo...

[wilray]

10:21 PM on 03/25/2012

You can ring my bell ... ring it, ring it , ring it ... ring my bell!

[Herbert Jara Messer]

12:30 PM on 03/24/2012

This is stupid, i don't think i'm the only one but sometimes when i have my phone in one pocket for a long time sometimes i "feel" the phone vibration but when i check it, it was never vibrating.

You get those ghost feelings and u'll have to move you tattoo from time to time

[emmeaki]

04:10 PM on 03/31/2012

I oftentimes reach in my purse because I swear that my phone was vibrating, but it wasn't!

[Spleenz]

12:17 AM on 03/24/2012

Hopefully you can shut it off, imagine trying to sleep or have sex and that thing vibrating away!

[SoldierDK]

04:04 AM on 03/24/2012

I'm guessing vibration could come in very handy in one of those two scenarios

[Lechiffre]

08:04 AM on 03/24/2012

You use a vibrator then ..

[J242]

04:50 PM on 03/24/2012

lol, I can picture it now. "Text me baby! Yeah! Speed dial me ALL night long!" lol

[Americangirl61]

08:44 PM on 03/23/2012

That is just plain creepy...

[salustianon]

07:34 PM on 03/23/2012

Sounds like a great tracking device.
Like the chip implant.
Big brother is watching.
Goes great with the drones.

[Jack Davies]

06:30 PM on 03/23/2012

VIVA WILLIAM GIBSON!

[Spleenz]

12:16 AM on 03/24/2012

...and Neal Stephenson!!

[Jack Davies]

04:34 AM on 03/24/2012

Yes!

[Romansten10]

05:38 PM on 03/23/2012

When your phone is ringing, you don't need a stupid tattoo to vibrate to tell you. How stupid is that.

[Missy Manners]

05:17 PM on 03/23/2012

OMG...There is NO call I need that bad.

[proterozoic]

05:05 PM on 03/23/2012

Wow, can you imagine how frigging annoying this would be? It's bad enough to have a plastic thing vibrate next to your sack.

[Missy Manners]

05:18 PM on 03/23/2012

ROFL.....No, I can't imagine. ROLF..... That visual and the laugh it brought will sustain me for days. Thanks.

[M Zahran Sallay]

04:10 PM on 03/23/2012

the mark of the beast!

[jade alexandra]

04:01 PM on 03/23/2012

"No word yet on the potential health risks of the proposed device." I love how they just slide that in at the end. Gosh, you almost had me!

[Sportsman7272]

03:16 PM on 03/23/2012

Am I reading The Onion?

[Frank Sonleitner]

02:39 PM on 03/23/2012

HA! HA! HA! It might be fun, I'll tell you where I would put the tatoo!