Ambitious start-up Chaotic Moon has announced its first electronic device combining health monitor, fitness tracker and electronic wallet, which can be worn on one’s skin as a tattoo.

The company, which describes itself as a “group of thinkers, builders, designers, developers, leaders, dreamers, and doers hell-bent on changing the world through better digital experiences,” has released a video dedicated to its all-in-one product wearable on one’s skin.

The “tattoos” made with electroconductive paint include small microcontrollers that can monitor body temperature and heart rate, and store financial data, like a wallet or credit card.

The idea behind the device resembles that of Patric Lanhed, bitcoin-enthusiast who put his bitcoin wallet chip under his skin to be able to pay by simply scanning his hand. He called the technology “bio payments”, insisting that it was the easiest way to escape problems with lengthy passwords or public addresses, or losing one’s wallet, or simply forgetting one’s money at home.

Chaotic Moon has a very similar view of the problem, saying that their invention is a technology “that is, in a sense, part of the user.”

The idea of making QR-codes and microprocessors much closer to our skin has a long history. A Playboy article released this June suggested that they can be printed on clothes or built in jewelry, put by activists to their protest signs to enable anyone to donate to the cause, and used by strippers simply as tattoos to let customers give tips in bitcoin instantly.

Other ways to simplify the use of digital money are also being looked into by start-ups, though not always in such radical ways. For instance, Netki has just developed a special extension to help Google Chrome users replace their lengthy 32-charter public addresses with names that are easy to type and read.


Maria Rudina