Happy Halloween! In the name of spookiness, here are some of the creepiest (or maybe the coolest in your opinion) implantable lifelogging technologies that we’ve found across the web. Trick or treat?
Read more: The Perfect Wearable Device – How Far Are We?
1. Google’s cancer-detecting nanoparticle pill
Image credited to Telegraph
Google X, also known as the semi-secret facility run by Google to develop sci-fi sounding solutions, has gone beyond simply developing Google Glass, drone delivery systems or glucose-monitoring contact lenses. In its most recent disclosed work-in-progress, Google X has decided that early detection of cancer through implantable technology is the way to go. Here’s how it works. Users ingest a pill that releases nanoparticles and attaches itself to body cells and proteins, which subsequently reports health information to a wearable device. When asked about the thought process behind this groundbreaking technology, Google’s head of life sciences Andrew Conrad says that “What we are trying to do is change medicine from reactive and transactional to proactive and preventative”. Would you take this pill?
Read more: Google’s latest project takes on cancer with wearable tech and Google is developing cancer and heart attack detector
2. MIT’s contraceptive implant
Image credited to BBC
Developed by MIT, this contraceptive device that measures 20 x 20 x 7 mm is designed to be implanted under the skin of the buttocks, upper arm, or abdomen. It dispenses 30 micrograms of levonorgestrel a day, a hormone already used in several kinds of contraceptives. In terms of how it compares to the contraceptives of today, this implantable contraceptive that can be activated or deactivated by a remote control has been said to provide more convenience to women, who otherwise have to make a trip to the clinic to have the same thing done. In terms of its durability, this new contraceptive promises to last approximately 16 years, compared to the current hormonal control that lasts only 5 years. Would these conveniences be enough to convince you to use it?
Read more: A Contraceptive Implant with Remote Control
3. Smart tech tattoos
Image credited to IGN
What would tech look like beyond the wrist? This was the question posed to New Deal Design. The result? Project Underskin, which constitutes smart digital tattoos being implanted into your hand. These smart tattoos, according to IGN, could potentially track your body’s health, unlock doors using NFC technology or even exchange information through a handshake. Although currently only popping up on the web as random thoughts and a result of unleashing creative juices, New Deal Design believes that the rate at which technology advances today will be able to make this a reality in five years or less. Would you ink yourself with these devices?
Read more: Tech tattoos could be the next thing in wearables
4. Implantable smart phones
Image credited to Anthony Antonellis
And if it isn’t digital tattoos, it might just be your smart phone, or something that communicates with your smart phone, which finds a way into your body. Artist Anthony Antonellis, for instance, had an RFID chip embedded in his arm that could store and transfer art to his handheld smartphone. According to him, “The data on the chip is left public for reading and password protected for writing. The app in development allows for direct downloading of the file from the chip and the ability to upload a new file.” Besides artistic expressions like these, researchers have also been experimenting with implanting smart phones into the human body, according to Yahoo. If this does become a reality, images will then be displayed through artificial skin or eye implants. Trust me, I’m getting goosebumps already.
Read more: 9 Real Technologies That Will Soon Be Inside You
5. BrainGate Neural Interface System
Image credited to BrainGate
Sorry for scaring you so much this Halloween. We promise this is the last for today. Researchers at BrainGate are exploring the possibilities of developing brain implants to advance human-computer interactions. This would allow users to invoke an action simply by thinking it. According to the BrainGate website, the goals of this technology is to allow severely disabled individuals—including those with traumatic spinal cord injury and loss of limbs—to communicate and control common everyday functions literally through thought. I guess Susan Taylor was right when she said “Thoughts have power; thoughts are energy. And you can make your world or break it by your own thinking.”
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