App Attack: Ink Hunter lets you test-drive tattoos before you get inked

I’ve always dreamed of getting a tattoo — specifically, one showing a favorite video game or comic book character (I haven’t decided which one) posed against a huge American flag backdrop.

But I never actually got that tattoo, because I’m terrified that I’ll get it, take one look at the finished product, and immediately regret my decision.

Now there’s an app — called Ink Hunter — that could finally help me decide whether or not I should go under the needle or not.

Available for iOS (and initially brought to my attention by TechCrunch), the app uses augmented reality to project a tattoo wherever you want on your body.

To get the tattoo to appear, you first have to draw a kind of emoji-style face on your body that the app uses to orient your tattoo of choice; I chose my wrist since it’s easy to reach.

You then select the tattoo you want to use from Ink Hunter’s library, and the app will display the same emoji-style face you drew on your body on your phone’s screen.

Line up the on-screen face with the one on your body using your iPhone’s camera and the tattoo will instantly appear on your phone’s screen.

You snap a picture of the results in the app; you can then resize, reorient, or completely change the tattoo you selected. Of course, you can also use it to send your friends and family — hi, Mom! — a preview to see what they think.

In addition to the tattoos provided by Ink Hunter, you can also upload your own designs to see how they’d look, and even check out tattoos by well-known artists.

If you’re thinking about getting tattooed, and want to make sure you won’t regret that decision the minute the inking is done, Ink Hunter could be just what you need.

Unfortunately, it can’t do anything about that awful tribal tat you got your freshman year of college. You’ll just have to live with that.

via: TechCrunch

Email Daniel at dhowley@yahoo-inc.com; follow him on Twitter at @DanielHowley.