Is That Your Tattoo Ringing? Or Mine?

Nokia has patented a funky tattoo ink that will vibrate to alert you of incoming calls on your cell phone, which presumably must be nearby.

The tattoo would be made of ferromagnetic ink and would be able to detect a magnetic field generated by your phone in order to “transfer a perceivable stimulus to the skin,” according to the U.S. patent filing, which was first brought to light by the Unwired View news site. Just as you can assign different ringtones to different contacts in your address book, this device can vibrate differently based on who’s calling, or whether you’re getting a text, email or news alert, according to the documents. It can even warn you when your phone’s battery is about to die.

If you don’t want to commit to permanent ink, the tattoo also comes as a stick-on.