When you fall apart from a loved one, it sure hurts a lot. But at least there is a way to reconcile and make things work. But the pain of losing a loved one to death is unimaginable and irrevocable. So we do whatever we can to preserve their memories, tattoos being the most common.
However, this singer from Chicago got a tattoo of her late grandmother’s voice note on her heart in the form of a sound wave pattern. Not only that, there’s an application on her cell phone which can play the voice note!
My grandma passed away my junior year of high school. A month before she passed, she left me a voicemail wishing me happy birthday. Today I got that exact waveform tattooed across my heart, and I am able to play it just by holding my camera over it❤️❤️ pic.twitter.com/nwoQ2Bn1DM
— 🌻s.o.s🌻 (@sosxofficial_) January 3, 2018
The tweet instantly got a lot of attention and many people, like me, wanted to know how exactly can a tattoo ‘sound’.
How does this technologically work?
— Bucket (@DreamVille101) January 3, 2018
And the answer to that is…
The same way any recording works. The pitch, volume, intonation is all stored in the size and shape of the waveform. All you need is a way to decode said waveform
— The Anti-Social Socialist (@MassiveMogul) January 3, 2018
But then what about this?
But what I’m wondering is how exact the tattoo artist had to be because I feel like drawing a digital representation with a needle on someone’s skin would cause line lengths to vary and be inconsistent yet I’m assuming that recording sounds just like her grandma. 🤔
— Bucket (@DreamVille101) January 3, 2018
Disclaimer: Hi-tech information ahead.
You're partly right. Unfortunately the truth of how this works is less magical. In reality, the app stores an image of the waveform. When a similar image appears, it plays the audio file. It's not "reading" it from the skin. It's simply looking at it like a QR code.
— Photoshop Fails (@ThePeopleJudge) January 3, 2018
Sound of Voice has to have at least 22 kHz sample rate, which is 22000 samples per second. If sentence is 15 seconds long it has to have 330 thousends dots in 4 inch tatoo which is imposible. Resolution is far not enough.
— Bart Kamski (@Bart_Kamski) January 3, 2018
Isn’t it the most beautiful thing ever? Being able to hear your loved one’s voice inked on your skin – technology is really a wonder.
While some tech-geeks discussed the wonder, others admired the gesture and shared their experiences of losing a loved one.
1. We believe what we want to cope with grief. So hummingbird it is.
Wowww, your idea was amazing😍. My grandma passed away in September so I decided to get a hummingbird and her signature from one of my birthday cards. The only reason I got a hummingbird is because my mom kept seeing one in our kitchen window randomly. So I figured why not❤️ pic.twitter.com/jdFY5xcMCB
— lilred🍒 (@rarebeaauty) January 3, 2018
2. Tattoos are meant to have some importance, I believe.
People that actually have a real meaning behind their ink instead of getting the first thing that comes up on google
— enrique😈 (@emenace813) January 3, 2018
3. Such a sweet remembrance…
me and my family got the same thing of my brothers laugh after his passing❤️❤️ pic.twitter.com/5zuOGfMdNT
— Q (@quandrelliggans) January 3, 2018
4. It is an idea that inspires.
I have a recording of my grandmother too. Id never thought of this, thank you for my next tattoo idea😍😭😭😭
— perseverance mafosta. (@Zion_SD) January 3, 2018
5. Some memories that are really close to your heart can never be erased.
Honey this is one of the cutest things ever. My great grandma passed away about 2 years ago and I got the coordinates to her house where she helped raise me and teach me life lessons. I love your tattoo so much 💕😍💕
— 💕Tea-Air-Uh💕 (@_tk_oh_) January 3, 2018
Whether it is a distant relative, a friend, a partner or a close family member, coping with the grief of losing someone is unbearable. At times like these, we humans tend to do whatever makes us feel better, irrespective of the gesture. But this one right here is the most beautiful one I have come across, simply because it is both – visual and audio. And I wouldn’t want anything more than hearing my loved one’s voice just one more time, whenever I want.