This Temporary E-Tattoo Is Like a Mood Ring for Your Face

Ever wondered exactly how much your job is stressing you out? Scientists have developed a temporary forehead tattoo that could one day give you the answer. Scientists at the University of Texas at Austin created the facial mood ring, a tattoo made of electronic ink that wirelessly measures and analyzes electrical signals from the brain and eyes. In a small study of human volunteers, the e-tattoo appeared capable of conveying when people were mentally taxed. The unobtrusive, relatively affordable technology could be adapted to track mental strain in pilots, surgeons, and others in high-risk jobs, the researchers say. Senior researcher Nanshu Lu and her team were driven to develop their e-tattoo by a well-known conundrum; electroencephalography (EEG) can reliably measure a person’s brain activity, but it’s often not very practical to carry out. A typical EEG today might require someone to wear a bulky cap attached to all sorts of wires, for instance (not to mention the sticky conducti ... Read full article.