Simple but powerful, these conductive tattoos communicate data and actions to paired electronic devices, translating touch actions into digital activations. As biohacking and other transhumanist interventions go, this technology represents a relatively light-touch approach with potential appeal to a broader audience beyond your typical body hacker.

A collaboration between the MIT Media Lab and Microsoft Research, DuoSkin combines high-tech geekery with everyday fashion, putting circuits right on your skin for easy access. There are four essential configurations at work: a basic button for single-click actions, a slider to scroll, another slighter for continuous scrolls and a complex lattice that acts as a track pad.

They look like gold and silver flash tattoos but perform a variety of technological feats, thanks to a microcontroller and wireless communication unit. Connected to smartphones, computers or other gadgets, DuoSkin can be used like a touchpad controller, or can change color based on temperature, or can pull and transmit biological data (and combinations thereof).

Imagine: answering the phone, skipping a track in your podcast queue, turning on a TV or turning down the music with a quick swipe to your forearm. The fact that this system is easily removable is one of the key selling points, a harbinger of future mass-market tech that can be applied, taken back off and discarded, just like any other temporary tattoo.

From the design team: “DuoSkin is a fabrication process that enables anyone to create customized functional devices that can be attached directly on their skin. Using gold metal leaf, a material that is cheap, skin-friendly, and robust for everyday wear, we demonstrate three types of on-skin interfaces: sensing touch input, displaying output, and wireless communication.”

“DuoSkin draws from the aesthetics found in metallic jewelry-like temporary tattoos to create on-skin devices which resemble jewelry. DuoSkin devices enable users to control their mobile devices, display information, and store information on their skin while serving as a statement of personal style. We believe that in the future, on-skin electronics will no longer be black-boxed and mystified; instead, they will converge towards the user friendliness, extensibility, and aesthetics of body decorations, forming a DuoSkin integrated to the extent that it has seemingly disappeared.”

Tattoos are generally lauded for their intricacy and complexity, but these bold, beautiful and simple alternatives become artfully different thanks to a simple trick: the use of a single continuous line.

Made by Mo Ganji, a Berlin tattoo artist, each of these works (if you look closely) starts and ends at a single pair of points, no matter how they appear at first glance.

The zigs and zags required to make this approach work are what signal the viewer to make such a closer inspection in the first place.

Despite the simplicity and consistency of the method, the results are surprisingly varied, from very geometric shapes of human-made objects to organic curves of human and other natural forms.

In some cases, pointillist patterns are added to add texture, creating leaves, shadows or other details, but kept intentionally non-linear so as not to detract from the primary lone-line drawing. (via Colossal)

Tech Tats use conductive inks to create a circuit board right on your skin, providing a passive and unobtrusive alternative to standard wearables. Smartwatches and fitness trackers tend to stand out (worn on wrists or around necks) and need to be taken off and put back on daily, whereas these tats (while temporary) can be applied indefinitely.

The wearable can be used to monitor body temperature, blood pressure, stress levels and heart rate, then transmit data wirelessly to a mobile app or computer.

Lying effectively flat against the surface of your skin, these complete circuits are easy to conceal or reveal depending on whether or not you want to show off your ink.

The DIY-friendly design uses LED lights, a microcontroller and conductive ink – for now, the result is intentionally temporary, but permanently-inked versions could work as well.

The applications are numerous, starting with medical but expanding to financial as well as other identification-oriented use cases. A wearable wallet could be tied to your banking information, for example, or you could apply a Tech Tat to your child during an outing to a busy place, providing an easy way to track them in case you get separated. Chaotic Moon is currently developing both the wearable circuitry tech as well as related applications.

The world’s first live tattoo projection mapping event turned tattoos from static works into performance art, creating dazzling animations from inked body artworks.

Filmed in Lisbon by Oskar & Gaspar, the above video highlights the infinite possibilities of this approach, from filling in details and colors to completing partial tattoos or even animating them in living color.

Like the future tattoos from William Gibson’s book The Peripheral, the result can seem like organic behavior, with faces coming to life and snakes slithering across a body’s surface.

Remarkably, the entire film was made without any post-production – what you see as the viewer of the short film above is exactly what the audience saw on the day of the event. We still may be a ways away from embedded nanobot tattoos, but when we get there, this will be an excellent source of inspiration for the tattoo artists of the future.

Working primarily in bold, black ink, these 13 top tattoo artists working in Kyoto, London, Berlin, Kiev and throughout the United States stand out for geometric and illustrative styles that put the emphasis on line work. Whether they prefer minimalist compositions or cover entire torsos with amazingly intricate shapes, they create living works of art that are literally walking advertisements for their talent.

Thieves of Tower

North Carolina-based tattoo duo Houston and Dagny aka Thieves of Tower have developed a distinctive style, often covering large areas of the body in sweeping landscapes full of stark architectural details. Legs might become a diptych of bold black lines contrasted with clouds, and spires rise from a cityscape stretching across a chest.

Lisa Orth

Frequently working in Los Angeles and traveling around the country, Seattle-based artist Lisa Orth works in a dark, graphic style reminiscent of old woodcut prints and etchings.

Maxime Buchi

Working primarily out of Sang Bleu studio in London, Maxime Buchi (better known as M-X-M) is a modern master of both medieval etching styles and geometric work, often combining them for an intricate and instantly recognizable result.

Thomas Hooper

If you’re looking for amazingly detailed patterns, Thomas Hooper is your guy, tattooing tiny geometric shapes that come together into astonishing tapestries of imagery. Hooper is based in Austin, Texas at Rock of Ages tattoo. s

Grace Neutral

Want to get tattooed the old-fashioned way? Hand-poking has gotten a bad rep because it’s so accessible to amateurs, but there are masters of this ancient craft who choose to work without machines professionally. Check out Grace Neutral, who has gotten incredibly proficient at the process over the years.

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Permanent Markings 13 Tattoo Artists With Bold Black Style