Alternative cyborg implants
What else can they stick in your body nowadays?
The NFC chip is one of many implant options available right now. Another is magnetic implants. These vibrate under magnetic influence enabling the wearer to actually ‘feel’ the magnetic fields about them. The previously mentioned Professor Warwick is working with teams to create ways of tuning this so that magnetic implants will enable people to feel variations subtly.
Another cuttingedge implant comes in the form of North Sense. Pinchy, a body augmentation specialist, is the only person implanting these right now in the UK . These attach to the chest via piercings and vibrate when the wearer faces north. After a while the wearer no longer notices this, kind of like that you don’t feel your feet hit the floor as you walk. Then, theoretically, the implant can be removed and you will continue to sense where true north is.
This is something certain animals can do naturally – and it’s argued we as humans have evolved to forget. Now you can biohack evolution to get that sense back. Pretty cool, huh?
“After some post-procedure tips I was on my feet as a genuine transhuman”
the rice-sized chip visible in my hand when squeezed in a certain way. The entry hole scabbed and healed over with no mark a few weeks on. Getting people to touch the chip and see the surprise is worth the procedure alone. Then I discovered what can be done with it…
Using a cyborg hand
Getting a no-name chip accessed and updated to actually be useful was always going to be tough, right? Wrong. This thing can be programmed using a smartphone.
The chip, catchily named, NXP MIFARE Ultralight C has a not-so-whopping 924 bytes of memory and works close-range only. Despite sounding like the spec sheet from a nineties Casio watch this thing is pretty damn versatile.
After downing the NFC Tools Pro app for a few quid I held my phone to my hand and it was instantly recognised. Luckily I use Android as Apple won’t give iPhone users access because of its lockdown on those systems.
The only other downside here is the chip can be programmed to carry out one task at a time only – but with software updates that could soon change.
App programming
Immediately I programmed the chip with my business card details. Now when I meet someone they can tap their phone to my hand and my contact card will be added with name, number, address and email. So it makes you memorable (that guy with the chip in his hand!) and won’t get lost like a physical business card. You can also get it to activate phone functions like go silent, send an email, open a link or app, play a sound and more.
Contactles payments
Paying for things with a hand swipe was always going to be the big one. While this can be difficult to set up with your bank, if you go to your bank card manufacturer they’ll be able to help. It will mean a wallet with limited cash but to me that means it’s more secure anyway. The result is the ability to tap a contactless card reader in shops and make payments. Yes this can be more embarrassing than anything, especially if it fails. But it’s a conversation starter (and wasn’t using your phone to make those payment embarrassing not long ago anyway?).
If in London it’s worth setting this up to pay at Oyster card readers – no more fumbling for a bank card or ticket and if you get collared by a ticket inspector you can give them a real surprise when offering your hand as a ticket.
Goodbye door keys
Smart locks are another great use for the chip. Yep, thanks to a Yale NFC-enabled lock, I can now get in the front door when drunk without worrying about finding that keyhole. No more waking the wife up because I’ve forgotten my key either – this one is a real winner. Of course you do worry about how secure NFC is on your front door.
No more locking keys in the car
The other big use for this bad boy is to unlock a car. At the moment that’s not just any car – Land Rover and Jaguar are the ones pioneering NFC locks. The Jaguar F-Pace and new Land Rover Discovery offer an optional NFC Activity Key which lets you leave the main key in the car, inert, and go swimming in the sea while the wrist worn Activity Key stays waterproof. We geeked out with the Land Rover engineers to get this chip working in the same way, which meant unlocking the car using my hand alone. Incredible.
This chip hasn’t changed my life completely – and there’s so much more potential. But it’s a real glimpse into the future. And I love it.