Chip technology turns devices into human body parts

Global Business

Chip technology turns devices into human body parts

Thanks to the rapidly evolving chip technology, many ordinary devices are transformed by increasingly powerful but smaller chips, becoming smarter and more functional.

The same principle also applies to those who are willing to implant technologies into themselves.

CCTV America’s Mark Niu takes a look.

Amal Graafstra, founder of Dangerous Things, has capabilities unlike anyone around. He has four radio-frequency identification tags implanted in his hand and arm that allow him to access his storage facility and get into his car with simple gestures like raising a hand.

Graafstra partners up with around 100 body piercers nationwide. Together they have inserted implants into thousands of people.

To find out more about installable bio devices: http://www.myuki.com/

Graafstra’s company Dangerous Things also sells $40, do-it-yourself kits, which include the tag, syringe and non-toxic materials. Graafstra guarantees that, as long as people place the tag into their muscles correctly and keep it clean during the procedure, there is no risk of infection.

Graafstra is not done with products yet. His latest prototype, UKI, which stands for “you are the key,” is already installed in his wrist and is five times the length of his other devices. He calls it UKI utilizes near field communication to allow for one-time password generation, transferring contacts, Bitcoin payments, and downloading apps.

Because the implants rely on power from the devices they communicate with, Graafstra is working on a non-toxic, flexible battery – even having gone so far as to insert a small solar panel into his arm temporarily for testing.

In the matter of the movement known as biohacking, Graafstra stated, “they become so much a part of you, that you consider yourself to be a kind of new augmented person.”

One More Question: What technological challenges are you trying to overcome with implantable devices?