I’d think this was just a clever April Fools’ joke, if it weren’t the middle of July.
Motorola has teamed up with a company called VivaLnk to make a temporary tattoo that can unlock a smartphone, no PIN required. Slap it on your skin, hold your phone up to it, and bam — phone unlocked.
Who needs gestural passwords or face recognition when you can unlock your phone like a time-traveling space wizard?
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15uIFmysZV4&w=630&h=354]
So how does it work? It’s an ultra-thin NFC circuit, wrapped up in medical-grade 3M adhesive that won’t (or, at least, shouldn’t) freak out your skin.
A 10 pack of tattoos will set you back $10 bucks. Motorola says these things should stand up to swimming and other exercise and should last for up to five days — so that 10 pack would optimally last you a bit over a month and a half.
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Before you go and order a pack, there’s one catch: these tattoos only work with the Motorola X right now (because nothing helps test a wacky niche product concept like severely limiting the potential customer base). If you’ve got any other Android phone, you’re stuck unlocking your phone manually like a chump.
(Alas, while the video above suggests they threw some pretty serious design efforts in here, the tattoo ends up looking a bit like a mole you’d want to have someone check.)
