The other night, Insight Media had a little fun with Micron as we had dinner and used a napkin as a projection screen. Human-based images may become more common with the advent of pico projectors, but suppose the display itself was part of your skin or clothing? It turns out that Brian Litt, an associate professor of neurology and bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania, is seriously exploring embedding LEDs under the skin to create "display tattoos." These electronic tattoos can be turned on and off, empowered by "silicon on silk" using nanometer-sized silicon circuits.

Steve Sechrist
Senior Analyst and Editor

A Wired report by Charlie Sorrel said, "The silicon chips are around the length of a small grain of rice - about 1 millimeter, and just 250 nanometers thick. The sheet of silk will keep them in place, molding to the shape of the skin when saline solution is added." Moreover, the material is biodegradable so eventually the implant (sans the electronics) will "melt away" into the body.

And that residual silicon circuitry? No worries say researchers as they are just nanometers thick and should cause no irritation to the body. It seems that silk (already approved by the US FDA as a medical implant material) is also an excellent substrate for electronics. "Silk is mechanically strong enough to act as a support, but if you pour water on it, it conforms to the tissue for medical implants." According to Fiorenzo Omentto, a bioengineering professor working on the material at Tuff’s University.

Medical applications include connecting the display to internal body functions to monitor say-blood sugar levels with "readouts on the skin itself." The Wired story even mentions the possibility of one day implanting a display on the back of the wrist to present a GPS map (that way at the Hertz counter you can decline the NeverLost upgrade by simply saying "…no thanks I’ve got one tattooed to my wrist.")

But Penn and Tuffs are not the only ones looking at the concept of human displays. Philips created a "Design Probe" that "…explores the body as a platform for electronics and interactive skin technology." The Philips Design Probe worked in collaboration with Henk Schiffmacher and Scanner to create the electronic tattoo along with a provocative video showing applications, including an embracing couple who can elicit images on the skin from gentle touching or rubbing.

The video, "Philips Electronic Tattoo" goes on to describe the system: "Stimulated by touch, an Electronic Tattoo traverses across the landscape of the body, navigated by desire…" This is a place where "science meets desire" illustrating just how muddy the border between science and emotion can get.

It was once said that, "Thought cannot conceive of anything that may not be brought to expression. He who first uttered it may be only the suggester [sic], but the doer will appear."

As Sorrel pointed out in his Wired article, the idea of human display is the stuff of Ray Bradbury’s Illustrated Man and while Bradbury may be the "suggester" the doer have certainly appeared. - Steve Sechrist