A pager (beeper, whatever you call it) in the form of a thin adhesive patch. The pager would have the bare minimum of electronics necessary: all it would do is receive a signal when you are paged and then send current between two electical contacts on its surface.

The patch would be worn on the skin, under a shirtsleeve or wherever. When someone pages you, they dial as normal and then get to leave a message for you in a voicemail box. When they are finished, the system sends a signal to your pager, which applies current to your skin -- just enough to get your attention. This tells you to call the system and retrieve your message.

A disadvantage of this would be that you wouldn't instantly know who was calling you. However, I believe that is outweighed by the unobtrusiveness and convenience of the design.
-- PotatoStew, Jun 13 2001

Yes! I want people to be able to administer electric shocks to me from miles away!
-- bookworm, Jun 13 2001


They're only mild electric shocks... it would probably feel no worse than the vibrate mode on a regular pager. Unless you're into that sort of thing. Then maybe the intensity of the shock could be set by the owner.
-- PotatoStew, Jun 13 2001


The electronics are probably feasible (though making it flexible may be tricky), but what about the batteries?
-- egnor, Jun 13 2001


I was thinking wristwatch batteries. They're not super thin, but they would add minimal bulk and probably still make the patch useable.
-- PotatoStew, Jun 13 2001


Piezo elements charging a capacitor?
-- angel, Jun 13 2001



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