VANCOUVER -- Cyborgs have stepped out of Star Trek and into real life, with some tech aficionados getting tiny computer chips implanted into their bodies that do everything from open doors to unlock computer programs.
Amal Graafstra and his girlfriend, Jennifer Tomblin, never have to worry about forgetting the keys to her Vancouver home or locking themselves out of Graafstra's Volkswagen GT.
The chip implanted in Amal Graafstra's hand allows him to log on his computer without a password.
They can simply walk up to the door and with a wave of a hand, the lock will open. Ditto for the computer. No more struggling to remember complicated passwords and no more lost keys.
As Graafstra puts it, he could be buck naked and still be carrying the virtual keys to unlock his home.
"I did it for the very real function of replacing keys, it saves me having to walk around with a huge chain of keys in my pocket," said Graafstra, 29.
Radio frequency identification (RFID) chips are already in fairly common use for applications from livestock identification to merchandise tracking.
For example, veterinarians will implant tiny ampoules under the skin of dogs or cats for identification if the animal is lost. All it takes is a special reader flashed over the skin and Fido can be on his way home.
Graafstra did much the same, only the three-by-13-millimetre chip was put under the skin of his left hand by a surgeon. A second one, two-by-12 millimetres, is in his right hand.
Graafstra's experimentation with RFID technology has earned him a book deal, with his book, RFID Toys, due out in February. He said he got the idea from pet ID microchips.
"I'm a project gadget builder kind of guy and I saw cats and dogs getting these tags and I spent a few years thinking about the different ways they could be used," said Graafstra, who spends a lot of time in Vancouver, but calls Bellingham, Wash., -- where he operates several businesses, including web hosting and medical management for physicians -- home.
It was only when he came upon non-proprietary parts that he could hack up to use in his own applications that Graafstra asked a surgeon he knew to implant a tiny tag in his left hand. The five-minute operation with a scalpel took place in March. The tag sits under the skin in the webbing between his thumb and index finger.
More recently, Graafstra had another chip implanted, this time in his right hand with an injector needle by a family doctor.
"It wasn't a big deal," said Graafstra. "I can't even feel it unless I push on it with my finger."
Graafstra's experiments piqued the interest of geeks around the world. He estimates there are perhaps about 20 people who have implanted the RFID tags.
However, there aren't a lot of people doing implants, because there aren't a lot of doctors willing to do the implants, said Dan Henne, vice-president of Calgary's Phidgets Inc.
"And there is always the unfounded fear that somehow government is going to use this to track people," Henne said. "But the technology has its limitations. If you had an entire research group, you might be able to read a person's tag a couple of metres away. It takes an awful lot of science to do that.
"I'm sure the CIA would love it, but it won't work."
Dr. Morris VanAndel, registrar of the British Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons, said there are no ethical considerations that would prevent a doctor from implanting the chips.
"People get breast implants," said VanAndel. "A foreign body in somebody's body is nothing new."
-- CanWest News Service
PREVIOUS
