Try On a Tattoo with AI (English & Cantonese)
John Ip — Founder and CEO of Oh My Ink, which makes AI tattoo try-on machines, and founder of the Mirror Tattoo studio. He started tattooing in 2018, after producing an investment reality show that raised HK$70M for 8 startups. Gabe Shum (沈龍威) — Tattoo artist, Freedom Tattoo HK. He opened Freedom Tattoo in 2000, founded the International Hong Kong Tattoo Convention and calls himself a third-generation Hong Kong tattoo artist.
Chapters
- 0:00Without AI, it would be impossible
- 0:35Intro
- 0:49John Ip and the world's first tattoo try-on machine
- 5:23Oh My Ink Connect, a tattoo marketplace
- 6:12Why the machine needs AI
- 7:08From reality-show producer to tattoo artist
- 8:20Meet Gabe Shum (Cantonese)
- 9:04Three generations of Hong Kong tattoo artists
- 10:43Beckham, new machines and the try-on
- 13:51Why Hong Kong says 紋身, not 刺青, and the two swallows
About This Episode
At the Hong Kong China International Tattoo Exhibition, Tanya tries on a tattoo she would never get. John Ip built the machine. It takes a photo of your arm, finds the skin with machine learning and wraps an artist's design onto it in about 20 seconds. John says it would be impossible without AI, and that his machines in Hong Kong, France and the United States help tattoo shops earn about 40% more. Then, in Cantonese, Gabe Shum, one of Hong Kong's best-known tattoo artists, talks about the three generations of Hong Kong tattoo artists, tattooing David Beckham, how new machines and the try-on change the work, and why Hong Kong shops say 紋身 and not 刺青.