"Chip Man": Man and Machine Integration

Minds think alike

Wave the hand to lock the door, shake his head to drive the vehicle, and shake hands to send the document. Not only that, people with cerebral palsy can normally cook their own lives, and police officers find the abductees effortlessly. These bold imaginations seem to be small cases for the “chip people” in the future.

With the rapid development of science and technology, many researches that are almost "fantasy" have become reality. Body and electronic technology, but also what kind of spark? How far is the "chip man" era from us?

Human + chip

As early as 1998, Professor Kevin Warwick of the University of Reading in the United Kingdom used surgery to implant a silicon transponder into his left arm. Then in 2002, a 3mm-wide square chip was implanted in the left wrist and connected with 100 electrodes to connect his nervous system to the computer through the chip line. Thus, the world’s first " Chip man appeared.

For more than a week thereafter, Warwick took the "electronic tag" in and out of the control office building. All computer-controlled rooms can recognize him, automatically turn on the lights, open the door, and his computer will send out greetings from “Good Morning, Prof. Warwick,” and will notify him when new mail is received and automatically download him. E-mail... All of this is between the thoughts, and even without a lot of effort, his assistant can find him at any time.

Professor Kevin Warwick's experiment has inspired many people. People can not help but think that with the development of technology, will implanting chips in the human body in the future help those with severe illness? Can "chipmakers" accomplish more impossible tasks? Can future humans really have a "conscience?"

Associate Professor Zhang Chun, Director of the Integrated Circuit and System Design Division of the Institute of Microelectronics, Tsinghua University, believes that there are various types of implantable human body chips that are currently being discussed, and their functions are also different. Some of them are used to identify and track identity. There are also devices for the treatment of diseases that are implanted into the human body, and others that serve as remote-controlled electrical devices and human brain-assisted memories. Of course, some of these chips are put into use, and some are still quite far away.

At present, the so-called “chip man” is to implant a small chip under the skin of the human body. The basic personal data of the individual is recorded in the chip, and the contents can be displayed on a specific machine. Guo Zhichuan, an associate researcher at the Institute of Acoustics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, believes that the "human body chip" at this stage can be used as a radio frequency identification (RFID) electronic tag technology in the human body. In fact, it is a kind of chip that can be implanted into the human body that is developed by using radio frequency identification technology. It is equipped with a chip, an antenna, and an information transmission device and corresponds to different receiving devices outside the body.

The combination of humans and electronic devices is not surprising today. Our human body is a magical bioelectric field. Every human thought, each time the emotion fluctuates, each action has its own electrical signal in the brain. This signal is coordinated by millions of neurons in the brain. spread. Artificial retinas, cochlear implants, pacemakers, brain pacemakers, etc. These implantable electronic medical devices have played an important role in treating human diseases and restoring normal lives by simulating human organs.

However, people's exploration does not stop there. Humankind constantly innovates the way people and machines and people interact. Then, in the future, what kind of changes will happen to our lives after implanting chips in the human body? What miracle can we create in the end?

Broad Prospects > Practical Applications

The wide application prospects of human body chips are really exciting. In the future, human body chips may be used in many fields.

The first is to play an important role in the medical field. Guo Zhichuan believes that some positive effects of “human body chips” can achieve long-range, highly automated identification of human individuals. In biomedicine, they can help humans more, for example, to help people with disabilities work better and Cooking your own life and more.

It is understood that U.S. Applied Data Solutions announced in October 2004 that its VeriChip technology has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and will be used for medical purposes. VeriChip is an implantable person. The microchip in the body is a medical tracking device. VeriChip has only one grain size, and doctors can use a special scanning device to receive the data information returned by the chip, such as the patient's identity, blood type, and health status, thereby speeding up the treatment process.

Previously, the media reported that in 2004, Cyberkinetics Biomedical Company of the United States implanted a cap-sized chip in the skull of a 25-year-old quadriplegic youth, and connected 100 tiny sensors from the chip to a wheelchair or a computer. He can just use his thoughts to manipulate affairs and even play computer games. This technique, known as the "Brain Gate," reads signals from a series of neuronal cells and uses a computer to convert nerve signals into actions that may result in future prostheses working like normal limbs.

In Japan, Toho University's Omori Hospital and NEC Corporation, Sumitomo 3M Corporation, and VX Magnetic Card Ventures jointly developed an identification chip that can be attached to fingernails. In a tiny integrated circuit chip, the patient's name, age, blood type and date of surgery, surgical site, attending physician, and history of allergies are recorded. The chip can be affixed to the fingernail of the thumb, and an identifier for reading the chip is provided in the operating room, the examination room and the ward of the hospital.

Second, the technology helps ensure personal safety and enhances the safety of some important institutions. In some countries with frequent kidnappings, businesses first smelled business opportunities. In countries such as Brazil and Colombia, some politicians and wealthy people are preparing to implant human body chips in their bodies to protect their own safety. According to U.S. Applied Data Solutions, its research and development microchip was first listed in Mexico City on July 18th, 2009. This chip can help healthcare workers and police quickly identify the identity of the casualties or health history after an accident. To confirm, especially after the kidnapping, the kidnapped police can use satellite positioning systems and chips to determine the location of the abductees. In addition, this identity and location function can also be used to conduct security inspections in the nuclear industry and defense security departments, among others.

In addition, in the economic and military fields, the human body chips have a wide range of applications. For example, bank account access, market transactions, and other economic activities can all be achieved using human body chips and corresponding read-write devices. Maybe one day you can really go shopping without any cash or credit cards. In addition, in the military field, some military operations can be carried out by controlling animal actions to complete operations against the enemy.

As for the ability to store and transfer knowledge and improve learning ability by implanting chips in the brain, it will take a long research process. Zhang Chun believes that at present, we cannot clearly understand the specific storage mechanism of the brain. It is impossible to use the brain chip to store knowledge and deliver it in the short term.

However, “You can never keep up with the pace of science”, who can guarantee that such magical things will not come true in the future? Nothing can't be done, only unexpectedly, the potential of the "human body chip" awaits human exploration and exploration.

Technical bottlenecks ≠ promotion threshold

The brand-new era of "chip people" is indeed exciting. However, although many people had predicted that the "chip people" era is approaching, the dispute about the "chip people" has been accompanied since then. The "chip man" era has also slowed down, turning into a talk of technological talents. What are the factors that restrict the development of "chip people"?

Zhang Chun believes that the first thing that directly restricts the development of human body chips is technical issues. Many human body chip designs, such as VeriChip of Applied Data Corp., are passive chips, which means that in general, it does not require energy. It is only a carrier of signals. It is only performed by nearby instruments. It can generate information when scanned. To widely popularize this technology, it is necessary to develop a power supply that can convert human body energy into electrical energy and a micro-chip containing a sensor, a processor, and a wireless transceiver, which can interact with remote devices. In addition, whether or not more “active chips” can be developed in the future can send information to the outside world, which is also a technical problem that designers need to overcome.

However, not solving the technical problem, the human body chip can be promoted without resistance. "'Human body chip' is also a double-edged sword," said Guo Zhichuan. "It can be used in the medical and security field. It can also be exploited by criminals to seize loopholes and monitor victims' every move." Human rights organizations Concerned that this action will "infringe on personal privacy," once in the hands of criminals, the harm is endless.

The first electronic identification chips were first installed on animals for recording and monitoring their eating habits and reproduction. Since then, livestock, fish, pets, etc. have been loaded with millions of electronic chips. The reporter learned from Shenzhen Pu Rui Technology Co., Ltd., which specializes in producing animal implanted chips, that the implanted chip can prove the pedigree of animals, and some precious pets will be implanted with unique chips to identify the uniqueness of their ancestry. So, after all, will humans also identify identity, descent, and status in this way? Some people objected to saying: "This will threaten human dignity."

Another constraint is the demand issue. In order for human body chips to be truly popular, they must have more unique uses. After all, it is implanted inside the human body, so if it is not "absolute demand", most people are not interested. Reading the information on the chip requires a special scanning device, otherwise the chip will not play any role. It is understood that many wearable smart devices currently on the market also have the function of identity recognition and positioning, which can become a substitute for implantable human body chips.

In addition, the security of implanted chips is also a concern. According to experts, many electronic devices implanted in the human body have undergone rigorous tissue compatibility experiments and have special requirements for materials, but they cannot guarantee 100% safety. In addition, the electromagnetic radiation of these electronic devices will also have a negative impact on the human body.