Motorola and VivaLnk have invented a temporary tattoo that can unlock your Moto X smartphone with just a dainty flick of the wrist.
Unlike normal, garishly designed temporary tattoos, this one is actually a thin film about the size of a penny with an embedded NFC chip. When you swipe your smartphone across the tattoo, your device will unlock just as if you’d entered a passcode – but at the moment only the Moto X is supported, and the tech is only available in the US.
VivaLnk says on its website: “VivaLnk’s breakthrough eSkin technology has made it possible for us to create thin, flexible electronics that are adhesive, inexpensive, and disposable, and can communicate with smartphones and tablets.”
According to Google, the average smartphone user unlocks their device 39 times a day, which takes a whole 2.3 seconds on each occasion. Whether swiping your phone over your wrist will be any quicker remains to be seen.
The report that was released with the innovation said that 50 per cent of smartphone users don’t even lock their device, leaving it very much open to thievery.
Deepak Chandra, Project Leader at ATAP, Google said: “In the last 40 years, we have not changed how we unlock our devices, even though their usage has significantly increased,”
“So we started working on making it easier for people to unlock their phones. Your phone is personal to you, so how you access it should be personalised to your style.”
The NFC tattoo will last for roughly five days and can withstand getting wet – a bonus for those who actually like to wash now and again.
Although only available in the US and for the Moto X at the moment, it’s thought that Google could launch the accessory in the UK if a compatible device is launched here too. For those States-side, you can grab a pack of ten for the princely sum of $9.99 (£6), which should last you a couple of months.
Personally, we still reckon voice unlocking is a better idea…
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