An Austin-based startup called Blackdot wants to bring modern robotics to an ancient practice: Tattooing. The company plans to begin piercing customers’ skin with ink soon using what they are calling the “world’s first automatic tattooing device.” The company believes its highly precise tattoo robot, which took a team of engineers five years to perfect, could offer clients highly complex works of art and is capable of “opening up new categories of art in tattooing.”
The tattooing machine designs will be offered exclusively at the company’s “futuristic” studios in Austin, Texas. Blackdot says it’s currently taking reservations for that location and plans to open other studios around the US. These aren’t causal walk-in tattoos. Customers interested in a Blackdot work could pay between $400-$8,000 for a design according to its website. On top of that, they might have to fork over an additional $1,800 for an “execution fee.” But hey, at least it’s not cash only.
Blackdot claims in its press release that its high-tech device can offer tattoos that are precise and personalized, in addition to being potentially less painful than those offered by a standard tattoo shop. When customers lie down for a session, the device uses several “concealed test dots” to analyze the client’s skin and compare it to Blackdot’s database of skin. It then uses that data to determine the number of punctures and puncture depth that will result in the best-looking tattoo for the client’s skin type and tattoo location.
The machine, which appears to straddle over a client lying on a reclined chair, uses machine vision to know where to apply ink, according to Blackdot’s press materials. A human tattoo operator present during the session selects a design from Blackdot’s design editor software, selects the appropriate dimensions, and presses “convert” to translate the design into a “.tatooo” file format readable by the device which then applies the design.
All of that tech, Blackdot hopes, should result in impressive-looking works, some of which were “previously out of reach as a tattoo.” So far, that appears to translate to lots of fine-line minimalism, dot work, and realism tattoos. Blackdot showcased eight of these tattoos in its media kit and each of them ascribed to a fine line, delicate, grayscale aesthetics. These are the types of small, modern-style tattoos you’d expect to find in an expensive, influencer-filled Lower East Side tattoo parlor. In its press materials, Blackdot argues its device can turn fine art, rare street art, and “legendary cover art” into body art that doesn’t suck.
“Our team of highly qualified researchers and engineers has been able to create groundbreaking technology for both tattoo-seekers and artists alike,” Blackdot Chief Technology Officer Yan Azdoud said in a statement. “Artists are always amazed at the fidelity and accuracy with which the Blackdot device can reproduce their works on skin.”
Blackdot’s designs aren’t necessarily limited to those crafted by tattoo artists either. The company says its tech-focused approach means an artist can potentially submit their design to the company and have them “executed as tattoos.” To that end, Blackdot is already offering a collection of tattoos from generative digital artists Tyler Hobbs and John Craig, the latter of whom is probably best known for creating the iconic album illustration for the Smashing Pumpkins 1995 album Mellon Collie. The “Star Nymph” featured on that album is available as a design for $2,000.
“When I first started to see what their technology could do,” Hobbs said “It was mind-blowing the level of precision and details it was able to achieve. Hobbs said the Blackdot device looked similar to a plotter, which he’s previously used in his own artworks.
Artists will have a financial incentive for their design thanks to a royalty system. The artists can review and approve the works that will eventually needle their way into clients’ skin and control the overall scarcity of those designs. In theory, the system could give artists more exposure to grow and clients access to designs from artists and tattooers who may otherwise be inaccessible.
Blackdot also reportedly plans to use NFTs (remember those?) to manage royalties and keep track of limited edition designs. Omer Tunca, a famous Turkish tattoo artist who released a collection with Blackdot, will reportedly only let 50 tattoos be created from each of his designs according to Decrypt. Customers in the future could also receive digital, NFT versions of their tattoos and sell the designs on Blackdot’s upcoming “Tradeable Tattoo” platform. And yes, if it wasn’t already clear, Decrypt reports that Blackdot is indeed working towards accepting cryptocurrency for payments.
One notable group Blackdot tattoos don’t seem well suited for are, well, people with a lot of tattoos. The designs, at least those released so far, are the opposite of what someone would expect to find in renowned traditional tattoo parlors scattered around the US. The photos shown below similarly show models with notable sparse tattoo collections. That relatively ink-free skin applies to Joel Pennington, Blackdot’s CEO, who reportedly told Decrypt he had zero tattoos when he came up with the idea. Pennington, who has since received a tattoo administered by the Blackdot device, told Decrypt the designs don’t necessarily serve the entire tattoo market which is growing rapidly.
“What people really wanted were smaller pieces that were really, really detailed, like the size of a credit card or less,” Pennington said in a recent interview with Decrypt. “But you’d have to fly to New York or LA, and you’d have to get on some type of year-long waitlist, or maybe the artists won’t even work with you because you’re not a public figure or celebrity.”
Here are some of the tattoos the Blackdot device has already completed. Would you sit down for a session?
