Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
h a l f b a k e r y
On the one hand, true. On the other hand, bollocks.

idea: add, search, annotate, link, view, overview, recent, by name, random

meta: news, help, about, links, report a problem

account: browse anonymously, or get an account and write.

user:
pass:
register,


                                                           

CAD/CAM Tattoo

Tattoo designed on a PC, applied by a peripheral
  (+19, -5)(+19, -5)
(+19, -5)
  [vote for,
against]

We've heard about people standing naked in a room to be measured up by laser for perfectly fitting jeans made up mostly by automatic process within minutes. We've heard of sweaters knitted with photos on and sat in machines which sketch our picture (well, those of us who are sad enough) (^_-) ...

So why not have tattoos designed in Photoshop and output directly to skin? There are potentially much more consistent results on offer than in submitting ourselves to the artistic mood-swings or trusting to the questionable skill of a half-inebriated tattoo artist. Tattoos of what we want without embarassment of offending the artist's sexuality, of the genre we want without finding a tattoo artist skilled in creating it, where we want without ethical debate, age-unrestricted because of the impracticality of prosecuting machinery.

- Andi (tsuchan@bigfoot.com)

tsuchan, Mar 04 2002

More of a bot than a printer http://www.we-make-...archives/006910.php
But, yeah, sorta Baked. [Link courtesy Worldgineer.] [DrCurry, Sep 07 2005]

Similar idea Instattoo
[bonkers777, Feb 16 2009]

[link]






       Is Photoshop the right tool?  Shouldn't it be vector, rather than raster, based?
bristolz, Mar 04 2002
  

       If you want a tattoo that perfect you are better off learning the craft yourself. And just how are these applied...by some laser? Maori tattoos....ouch.
bluerowan, Mar 04 2002
  

       (bristolz) I agree with the Vector idea.. something like Illustrator or Freehand would be best...   

       This could work I think, but the smaller the better.. some kind of laser scanner to get the contour of your arm would be best... dont see a reason why it wouldnt work (if firmly strapped into place)... also, a pause button for those in too much pain would be good.   

       Just thought actually - something like a PinArt box, but in "higher resolution" and with sharpened pins, could apply the entire tattoo in one, terrifying, painful moment, without needing to read contours too much.
Danzarak, Mar 04 2002
  

       hmm as far as machinery directly applying the tattoo, i don't know how much i would trust that. what if you moved some? would a robotic tattoo or laser system be able to adapt to that as well as a human could? when i got my tattoo the artist said i moved just a tad but it was nothing he couldn't handle and still make look right.   

       but... the tattoo i custom designed in illustrator (vector) and printed out, and then they created a transfer to trace on my skin. i guess that's as close as it would get for me, i wouldn't trust some robotic peripheral to tattoo me.
bluepxl, Jul 20 2002
  

       Computer-printable temporary-tattoo paper is available, at least for Alps MD-1000 printers.
supercat, Jul 23 2002
  

       Not yet baked, but fictionally prefigured. See the mechanical pantograph version of this device in Franz Kafka's "In the Penal Colony."
HP LoveJet, Jul 23 2002
  

       What about something like a high-velocity bubblejet printer, that injects the ink under the skin without a needle?
BunsenHoneydew, Sep 07 2002
  

       Just a thought - this "output" machine : how would it be designed? it has to be done in such a manner that "printing" on curved surfaces could be facilitated.
joker_of_the_deck, Sep 07 2002
  

       Hmm, perhaps an arm rest with strapping attached to the side of the chair to restrict the customer. To get accurate design use the standard car painting system with a tattooist's needle in place of the airbrush. Adjacent to the needle use a depth sensing device similar to the type used by surveyors to measure rooms (or crown green bowlers to measure accurate distances) to calculate the distance between the needle point and the surface of the skin.
chimpoid, Feb 07 2003
  

       it could work. but as with all computer based cad work, a person has to program everything. so even with the apparatus doing the ink work, there can still be human error.
JerryAtrik, May 14 2003
  

       I prefer the human variety of tattoo artists, if only for the fact that I can severely beat a human who gives me a bad tattoo. I swear one day I'll go back to that parlour in Melbourne, and I'm taking a crowbar. Watch your back, drunk inexperienced mutilator. *Angry growl*
sambwiches, May 14 2003
  

       Your skin slips just a fraction during the process and the bl**y machine prints the rest offest.
FloridaManatee, May 15 2003
  

       I don't think that movement during the process would be a problem. The latest Lasec eye surgery that zaps the front of your eye is much more difficult and automatically cuts out if the eye moves. It resumes accurately after the eye stops moving... A similar control system would no doubt be applied here.
BermudaBob, May 15 2003
  

       As long as it isn't run off Microsoft software...
GrapesofWrath, Oct 20 2003
  

       Try a hypospray injector. I'm not sure if they go far enough under the skin, but a matrix of those could do the whole tattoo at once, and wrap to the contours of your skin as well.
Macwarrior, Nov 06 2004
  

       //Your skin slips just a fraction during the process and the bl**y machine prints the rest offest// I notice in the linked picture that he's solved this using clothespins (ouch).
Worldgineer, Sep 07 2005
  

       Didn't William Gibson write about something like this already?
Trickytracks, Sep 30 2005
  

       On the subject of whether or not Photoshop is the right tool...it really makes no difference as long as the output DPI is greater than about 250. Your skin cannot retain detail that well. Use whatever you want, I say. Expecially for the highly detailed illustrious multicolored textured tattoos, which would be hard to make in Illustrator in the first place.   

       Keep in mind: most tattoo artists will design what you give them. Just make your design using whatever medium you want. Simple black designs are a snap.   

       I adhered a design which was previously a sticker on my mirror onto a piece of paper and handed it to the tat artist. She reproduced in on my upper back perfectly, since they have a purple temporary ink output device which she can stamp on for me to check, wash off incase of a misalignment, repositions it, then tattoos right over it. It's pretty much an exact copy, and I am very happy with it.
ophello, Oct 01 2005
  

       I loved your idea - you might want to tread the "Penal Colony", a short story by Franz Kafka, in which he describes an elaborate machine that punishes an offender by fatally inscribing the miscreant's crimes on his body.
xenzag, Oct 02 2005
  

       Hi everybody... it's a long time since I've been back to look at all your comments... thanks for them.   

       For joker_of_the_deck... it certainly needs to have a 3-dimensional map of the body, otherwise it wouldn't be able to stitch together designs which wrap right around limbs or the body.   

       And a 3D machine would answer Worldgineer's problem of an off-set if the subject moved: the machine would constantly adjust.   

       I was thinking, having just had a 9.5hr dragon sleeve put on my arm in Singapore, a machine may be able to have multiple simultaneous tattoo sessions, thus bringing a big tattoo into a time frame before the on-set of painful swelling. I have a feeling it may also reduce the pain to have multiple concurrent sessions.   

       My favourite idea among the suggestions, is BunsenHoneydew's high-velocity bubblejet printer. Sounds potentially very cool, Bunsen.
tsuchan, Oct 16 2007
  

       Didn't read the anno's or even body of the idea, but [+] none the less   

       Odd idea, but absolutly brilliant
evilpenguin, Oct 16 2007
  

       Partially baked in Starship Troopers (the movie - I haven't read the book). The group all get military tattoos, applied by a robot tattooist.
neutrinos_shadow, Oct 17 2007
  

       Maybe Adobe Illustrator would work.
BJS, Oct 17 2007
  

       thnk of the possiblitys. with SDT's and health conserns who can get a tattoo nowadays..   

       a robotic arm with a disposable cartrige should be aforderbal and easy to find in my opinion. i dont think meny of these ppl ar taking this seriously.
simon_627, Jun 21 2010
  

       // i dont think meny of these ppl ar taking this seriously//   

       shame on dem ppl. dis is serious place.
wagster, Jun 21 2010
  

       Haven't checked in for a while, but felt I had to comment on this.   

       Had this idea once, and decided that you'd need a pressure sensitive collar surrounding the needle with three sensors behind it to keep the needle perpendicular to the skin. That is, as the needle head moves across the skin, it adjusts the axis of the needle depending on the pressure sensed in each sensor, attempting to keep the pressure equal.   

       As for //Your skin slips just a fraction during the process//.., maybe a trailing camera on the needle head assembly to compare the finished work with the image and adjust accordingly?   

       Or would there be too much blood?
m_Al_com, Jun 24 2010
  

       I like the idea of the PinArt box thing. The pins would be replaced by hundreds of tubes that house the needles and ink. When pressed onto the skin, the tubes conform to the shape of your body part, and the needle is set to leave the tube so far, ensuring that the tattoo is neither too shallow or too deep.
rascalraidex, Jun 25 2010
  
      
[annotate]
  


 

back: main index

business  computer  culture  fashion  food  halfbakery  home  other  product  public  science  sport  vehicle