3D Printers...for tattoos

[Sean Sinha]

Worst idea ever? I'd never want to be tattooed by a printer.

[Iwar]

Worst idea ever?

Pretty much

[PinkUnicorn]

I'm suspicious this may be an April Fool "story"...

[Electric i]

My lady wanted to go see that movie "Divergents" so, against my better judgement, I took her. One of the things in that movie that really ground my gears was how they applied tattoos. It was like they just lasered the ink painlessly into the skin which, to me, seemed like a sacrilege.

Sadly I don't doubt that someone is hard at work making such a device right now, however.

[Sean Sinha]

I'm sure a 3D Printer Tattoo Machine Kit 5000 TM will be released to the public soon enough.

Sigh.

Fucking...SIGH~

[HaydenRose]

@Electric i I thought the same thing when I saw Divergent. It was just weird...

[MadeIndelible]

HERESY!

[OutOfIdeas]

I posted something similar a very long time ago, about a CNC tattoo machine. Similar concept.

[Electric i]

I posted something similar a very long time ago, about a CNC tattoo machine. Similar concept.

Do you have any personal feelings about the idea? I'm personally opposed to it, mainly because I'm of the mind-set that creativity needs to be the result of human imagination, not a human-constructed algorithm designed to replicate creativity.

[OutOfIdeas]

I agree completely. I find it interesting in a way; I worked with CNC machines and 3D printers in machine shop in class, and loved it. So its interesting to me.

On the other hand, I would never get tattooed by a robot. I think the human creativity, and actual human error that makes it a "hand made" product is a hugely important part of a tattoo.

[deadsp0t]

While I'm opposed and don't think I'd be cool with having a tattoo made on me this way, it should come as no surprise to anyone that the tech for this is being developed. Basically anything a human can do they are designing robots that can do it to.

[Electric i]

While I'm opposed and don't think I'd be cool with having a tattoo made on me this way, it should come as no surprise to anyone that the tech for this is being developed. Basically anything a human can do they are designing robots that can do it to.

I recently read an article written by an anthropologist who said that nearly all of the jobs we have available are bullshit, and the ones that are actually crucial to our civilization are underpaid. While reading it I was reminded of a book I have (in storage) called "What We Cannot Prove But Believe Anyway" and one of the authors was a computer scientist who thinks we should write algorithms that write better, smarter computer programs. Because apparently he has decided that he no longer wants a job as a computer scientist.

It makes me wonder why people go to such lengths to make themselves obsolete.

[deadsp0t]

I recently read an article written by an anthropologist who said that nearly all of the jobs we have available are bullshit' date=' and the ones that are actually crucial to our civilization are underpaid. While reading it I was reminded of a book I have (in storage) called "What We Cannot Prove But Believe Anyway" and one of the authors was a computer scientist who thinks we should write algorithms that write better, smarter computer programs. Because apparently he has decided that he no longer wants a job as a computer scientist. It makes me wonder why people go to such lengths to make themselves obsolete.[/quote']

My personal theory is that they believe they can be the first or the originator of something or an idea and capitalize on it to a point where having a job or career in a particular field won't matter.

I personally don't fault them for having goals or ambitions but I recognize that in most cases it probably doesn't work out that way.

[kingofcosta]

Damn. That printer pushes cleaner lines than me. Sad face.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[cameroncrazie80]

I understand peoples thoughts on the artistry and creativity from a human being one of their most important things when being tattooed.

However, let's be honest, a vast majority of people who get tattoos don't care about that. If I could take the image or design I wanted and could be tattooed by a machine knowing that it would be perfectly replicated the way I want it without the worry of a misspelled word, or bad lines, or shading I would be completely ok with that.

But I probably don't have the same views on tattoos as a lot of people on here. It's definitely not a bad way to be about tattoos, but the views a lot of people have on here are on the elitist side of how they view tattoos and the artistry and craftsmanship of tattooing and the people that do it.

I could have basically a perfect tattoo at probably a much lesser monetary cost, which a majority of the population would be more than happy with.

[polliwog]

Being able to see evidence that it was made by a human is part of the appeal for me. I was pretty freaked out by all the little funky things I could find in my first tattoo, but it doesn't matter so much anymore. I can actually find flawlessly clean tattoos a little cold, sometimes - depends on the subject matter, but I feel like I've seen a few things that seem to have more technical ability than heart. They're impressive but would feel wrong on my imperfect self. Kinda like when you get a new couch and everything else in the room looks shitty.

I suppose this is elitist. Enough things in my life are mass-produced that I don't feel the need to have tattoos be one of them. I don't want tattoos that look anonymous, not because I'm a special snowflake but just because it wouldn't be fun anymore. I could see this saving people from really badly rendered flash, maybe.

- - - Updated - - -

I think the distinction you draw between elitist/non-elitist might not fully hold, either. I understand you are referring to a mindset, and not a person's circumstances (though good tattoos are expensive, and I am frankly shut out of getting certain kinds of work at the moment, possibly for life). In the circumstances sense of the word, though, I'm sure plenty of folks from non-elite backgrounds want the best work they can get...even the best shops in the world are someone's neighborhood shop. I think appreciation is capable of knowing no class. In the mindset sense, well, LST is available to anyone with an internet connection and a willingness to expand their horizons a bit. I'm a numpty and I found my way here (and proudly proclaimed that I thought flash was "boring" in my 3rd post or whatever).

Sorry to go on, and to keep updating this thing. It does chafe a little bit to see art appreciation referred to as elitist when some of the folks dearest to me are a living refutation of this.

[Ducky15568]

Reminds me of Starship troopers (which was also done with a laser). I feel this is inevitable, most of the General population doesn't care about the culture of tattooing. We all know those people that want a sleeve, back or chest piece done in an unreal time period. I'm sure someone will capitalize on this idea and we will see these as frequent as a redbox. Welcome to Skynet....

Is it possible the same negative feelings were felt when the modern tattoo machine was made?

[cameroncrazie80]

I didn't mean elitist as a bad way of looking at tattoos and the culture. It may not have been the right word because I've never seen anyone get berated for not agreeing with the masses on here. But how many people look at tattoos as art appreciation? I promise you, not many if you think about how many people have tattoos as a whole. That's why I said the majority of the population doesn't care about the tattoo culture or the artistry behind getting them. They look at it as paying for a service. Which is why you hear about price haggling and trying to get discounts.

I'm not broke by any means necessary but I'm not rich either, but there are some tattooers I would love to get work from, but I will never be tattooed by because I won't pay that much for a tattoo, but I do believe the saying about cheap tattoos and good tattoos.

But I am also the type of person that will never ever get a full back piece or chest piece. Some people view tattoos as something that they are ok spending a lot of disposable income on while most of the population is not. Me personally, I have things I would rather spend those thousands of dollars on than getting tattooed that people on here wouldn't agree with.

It's like traditional tattoos on here. From everything I've seen most of the people here seem to love traditional style tattoos and flash. Me, I don't think I could ever get a tattoo of flash off a wall, or traditional style because I don't like them.

[Graeme]

@cameroncrazie80 The "elitist" thing rubs me the wrong way, but I don't think you meant any offence by it, so whatever. I do think, however, that contrary to what you wrote above, that you can't do away with the artistry and craftsmanship of tattooing and expect "basically a perfect tattoo". I think that if it was possible to feed a design into a machine and have it perfectly replicate that design on your skin, most people--probably virtually everybody--would still get utter garbage as tattoos because it takes somebody who actually understands tattooing, who cares about the art and the craft of it, to take something on paper and translate it to something that will actually work as a tattoo, that will fit the body well and age gracefully with it. It isn't something that can be reduced to a set of rules and programmed as an algorithm.

[cameroncrazie80]

I did mean no offense by it whatsoever, and like I said, it may have been a poor choice of wording. You may be absolutely right about the way it fits the body. I'm not saying it would get rid of tattooers. I think they could still be useful as far as drawing up designs and talking through the size of the tattoo and placement, but again, the average person (myself included until more recently) has no idea about placement and what will and won't work as a tattoo. They want the image, or design or words where they want it on their body.

And garbage for tattoos is relative to the person who has to live with the tattoo. If they're happy with it, then it's not garbage.

[cltattooing]

Hahahahahahahaha, holy fuck this is such blarney. I dunno if any of you noticed how they cut out the video right before the circle was joined but if anyone did notice, it was because the line trajectory didn't come to the origin point. I honestly don't think that anything like this will ever take off. Tattooing involves such an immense amount of critical thinking and on-the-spot decision making. Not to mention adjusting technique for various skin types, stretching the skin, adjusting needle depth per area of the body, and any other number of important variables.

Waste of money.

[Electric i]

Hahahahahahahaha, holy fuck this is such blarney. I dunno if any of you noticed how they cut out the video right before the circle was joined but if anyone did notice, it was because the line trajectory didn't come to the origin point. I honestly don't think that anything like this will ever take off. Tattooing involves such an immense amount of critical thinking and on-the-spot decision making. Not to mention adjusting technique for various skin types, stretching the skin, adjusting needle depth per area of the body, and any other number of important variables.

Waste of money.

The technology is in it's infancy, but that doesn't mean it will never mature.

Newsweek in 1995: Why the Internet will Fail. - The Next Web

Everything starts small, weak, and clumsy.

[cltattooing]

The technology is in it's infancy, but that doesn't mean it will never mature.

Newsweek in 1995: Why the Internet will Fail. - The Next Web

Everything starts small, weak, and clumsy.

I'm well aware, started using computers in 93 :p

[DJDeepFried]

Is a handmade pair of leather brogues crafted by a master cobbler nicer than a cheap pair of Payless PVC loafers? Is a bespoke made-to-measure suit better than an off-the-rack 3/$99 polyester deal at Joseph A. Bank? Yes and yes. Yet both are "shoes" and a "suit." That's not being elitist -- just a fact.

[MadeIndelible]

Who would want to take out the tattooer in all of this anyway? No one I know. That's for damn sure.