Original story

Finnish News Media Relay - Havanna, 27.11.2019

Scandal in front of 62 million viewers

Ingrid in the raw in Miss Universe pre-competition telecast

A fault in the control unit driving Ingrid Mikkola’s digiderm sheath resulted in the disappearance of her carnival skin during dress rehearsals for tomorrow’s Miss Universe finals in Havanna. The rehearsals were beamed via several pay-per-view news channels, and at least 62 million viewers worldwide saw more of Finland’s #1 beauty than she or the competition organizers had bargained for.

It was fortunate that the accident occurred during rehearsals, as the actual competition will be telecast via free channels also to numerous nations where public nudity is illegal. Now the naked truth about the Finnish Miss was revealed only in those countries for whom nudity is familiar.

Ingrid Mikkola, who has been extremely popular with retro-flowerpower enthusiasts in the run-up to the competition, and who is currently quoted at 8 to 1 to win by Hill-Ladbrokes of New York, had as expected chosen digital skin as her competition outfit. This was accepted into the Miss Universe rules for the first time last year. The skin grown on Ingrid is similar to other synthchameleon versions now available and can change tone and colour through a broad palette, and is made up of some 300 independently driven areas. It is possible for contestants in the pageant to use digital skin in the swimsuit, carnival, and bodypainting sections of the competition.

The weak link in the Biomed-Benetton digital sheath on this occasion proved to be the control system designed by Swatch and equipped with Microsoft software. For reasons that are as yet unclear it allowed all 300 areas of the sheath to become transparent, and at the same time shut down the heating system throughout, thus rendering the wearer completely naked as God made her.

Miss Mikkola herself was quick to level the blame at “spoilers”, suggesting this was a crude stunt by cyberpunk radicals. A group of activists has in recent weeks organized a number of spectacular attacks on the data nets and has been responsible for manipulating outcomes in numerous entertainment, sports, and news events. There has been no confirmation of the group’s involvement in Ingrid’s case. Previously they have not extended their operations to personal digital organs such as the body sheaths used in beauty pageants.

The competition organizers have stressed that Ingrid herself has contravened the rules of the Miss Universe pageant since the control system used in her digiderm costume is prone to virus attack, and she has downloaded her virtual outfits from the supplier across a public net without adequately secure encryption keys. A spokesman for the Data Security Council lamented the incident, but repeated earlier warnings on the data security of digital organs and on the importance of vigilance in protection.

Toteuma-arvio 2026

Toteuma lyhyesti

  • Ilmiön toteuma: 3/5
  • Toteuma viiden vuoden tarkkuudella: kyllä; arviointi-ikkuna on 2014–2024
  • Toteuma väljemmällä aikahorisontilla: kyllä, mutta tutkimus- ja muotinäytöstasolla
  • Ilmiön ydin: ohjelmoitava ihonmyötäinen materiaali vaihtaa väriä ja kuviota vaatteena tai koristeena, ja ohjelmistovika voi paljastaa käyttäjän.

Väriä vaihtavia e-tekstiilejä, joustavia näyttöjä ja iholle kiinnitettäviä elektronisia pintoja on esitelty muodissa ja tutkimuksessa. Läpinäkyväksi muuttuvasta koko vartalon keinotekoisesta ihosta ei ole tullut vaatetta.

Johtopäätös: ennuste toteutui osittain älytekstiileinä, mutta biologinen iho ja skandaali eivät.