Wearables are getting smarter. Always there with you, always at the tip of your fingers, ready to be used. And we're not talking only about smart rings and bracelets and wristwatches, or electronic devices so small they can be seamlessly embedded into fabrics. Or used as patches on your skin, or even being implanted underneath it. Here's an interesting piece for all of us who love (painless) tattoos - DuoSkin.

Developers at MIT Media Lab say that functional devices can now directly affix to the user's skin, opening doors to a huge new field of electronics development. However, the trouble is that the materials and miniature equipment required to create a tech wearable is currently quite expensive.

MIT Media Lab came up with gold metal leaf as the basic, conductive material used in the DuoSkin fabrication process, which enables pretty much anyone to create their own customized functional devices, attached directly to the skin. Gold leaves, they say, are cheap, skin-friendly and robust enough to endure everyday wear.

They presented three types of on-skin interfaces: sensing touch input, displaying output, and wireless communication. On-skin devices resemble metallic jewelry and temporary tattoos, and can be used to control mobile devices as well as display and store information on their skin.

DuoSkin may pave the path to future electronic body decorations such as previously only seen in the movies. On-skin electronic devices are currently used in medicine for monitoring vital signs, skin condition or tracking activity, but their potential is even greater than that as this kind of technology could be used anywhere.