We haven’t warmed to the idea yet, but the idea of implanted chips isn’t a totally crazy one. Okay it kinda is, but I mean that it’s just an effort to chip away at the obstacle that stands before us in terms of technological advancement – how do we become more “one” with our technology?
We’ve iMac personalized it, we’ve iPhoned it into omnipresence, and we’re currently Twittering it into real-time. Nanotech has made huge strides. A bionic eye gave a blind man sight. Where will human-computer interaction go next?
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TRANSCRIPT:
Hi everyone, welcome to Angela’s 4th travelogue conclusion. I started this travelogue wanting to know more about RFID technology and wondering what happened to all the fuss about VeriChip – the company behind the implantable arphids. After scouring the Net and having a wonderful interview with Meghan Trainor, I’ve come to the conclusion that the bad rap that arphid chips got was kind of because of the word “implants.” Although my interview does mention the buzz word “tracking,” I think the actual act of injecting a pill-sized chip remains a huge turn-off for most of the world, of course maybe excluding certain VIP night clubs.
The word carries negative connotations, thanks in part to the booming plastic surgery business, and it reminds me of superficiality…fixing surface layer problems and adding fakery to suffice for the real thing. Strangely this idea applies to RFID as well; the systems that companies came up with (not only VeriChip, but as we saw, the MiR:ROR product as well) never felt natural to use. It added needless augmentation to the tools that we already use: our eyes, our legs, our hands, our other gadgets. Speaking of the MiR:ROR, why would I need RFID to remind me to pick up some extra milk? And wouldn’t I simply send my friend a link to flickr instead of using some arphid chip to send it? These things don’t feel natural. And in VeriChip’s case, they volunteered to tag the corpses of Hurricane Katrina. That doesn’t seem right. As long as the system seems to be adding extraneous (and sometimes ridiculous) effort, people won’t warm to them.
On the flipside however, after speaking with Meghan and discovering more about her interrogation of the human-computer relationship, I don’t think implanted RFID is just a failed experiment or something that was shot down as “what crazy people do.” The arphid implants are only the first round in an ongoing struggle to sort of becoming one with our gadgets. Right now, we have come as far as having our techtoys on our person, always on, and keeping us connected “in real-time” as Twitter would have it. On a progression parallel to this is the one we’ve talked about in class, which is how interface is being made less and less heavy and obvious and more and more light and transparent. Bruce Sterling has described it as “don’t make me think” technology. Where is the next stage? I guess the idea is still very alien to us, but I wouldn’t be surprised if these two progressions combined and computations happened within our bodies and user-interface as we know it would be invisible. No interface? How the hell does that even work? Years and years of getting used to? But that would require some crazy intelligent and nearly impossible system designs! Like that would ever happen… Then again, what seems abnormal to us might be normal to a future future future generation. Here’s to hoping they don’t pull a T-1000 and Terminate us from the future.
Possibly Relevant Posts:
- Arphie the Arphid, a little comic (10) | Angela
- “I wouldn’t get a VISA tattoo, so why get a VISA chip?” (2) | Angela
- RFID and My First Time (1) | Angela
9 Comments
I think “arphie” was a great topic to explore. Personally, I have a strange relationship with this implanted technology. I’m glad you saw that delicious link (I thought the title was sufficiently sensationalist that you would see it) because after I watched that I thought, “Yeah I’d put nano robots into my body so that I can live for longer and be super intelligent.” And then I thought about the existential problems with all of that and I momentarily considered moving to Walden Pond.
I consider myself to be a technophile, and while there are people more intense about it than me, I feel like if I’m uneasy about this technology then most people are going to be reaaaly uneasy about it. Your tavelogue made me consider all of this more, and I think what I got most out of it is that there are a lot of ways this kind of technology could go, so I’m going to take a wait and see approach to it all.
But I mean, invisible robots giving you eternal life? Come on. How could that not make you into a super villain?
Okay, so it’s a bit of a jump from being addicted to your iphone to having a reminder chip embedded in your body. But, honestly, it’s not an enormous jump and I think you’re right: people are hesitant mostly because of the word implant, which feels really unnatural. If there was one chip that could function for a handful of purposes though, people would call it crazy for a while and then probably accept it. I would…
This kind of reminds me of the Tweeting via EEG article that was in Wired yesterday; it’s the same concept– using your brain to do things with technology. You’ve probably already read it since I sense you’re similarly obsessed with Wired, but here’s the link:
http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/04/braintweet.html
So great. Seriously Angela, consider a career as a comic book artist. This comic really made me think (and laugh) about the future. Up until now I’ve been thinking Arphie is ridiculous but I guess when you put it into this context it’s not that weird.
Great work. So I talked to some fellows about the next step for communication over dinner some weeks ago. They sat that people are already inventing the computer in your eye, or at least around it (via lenses or galsses).
This website
http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?arnumber=01431909
only explains a system (device) for people with severe neuromuscular impairment, but soon some similar technology will be available for all of us and we can through away, phone and computer.
i ment said. sorry for the typo
I definitely agree that the word carries negative connotations. The fist thing I though of when you mentioned you wanted to focus your travelogue on the RFID thechnology was the fact that it was used in Mexico to avoid kidnappings. However as you journeyed throughout your travelogue my perception changed and I think that the technology can be really useful if it is applied in the correct way.
However, I do think the fact that this technology could become part of us (and I mean this literally) is kind of scary. But I think we should focus on the positive aspects that this technology can serve.
Hahaha, pull a T-1000. Great comic, I think that your review of RFID technology is very enlightening. I think that you are very right that the technology is not going to be dismissed as “crazy” but that other technologies will eventually meet it in the middle until it loks like the logical next step.
@Dylan supervillians means superheroes too right? haha
@LilyQ i love that you’re like the only person I’ve spoken to that wants a chip. awesumo.
@Patricia My style is way too amateur though. :]
@Andrea Yes, I absolutely agree. The dystopian trend when it comes to new media has kind of dominated my travelogues, so I’m glad you see otherwise.
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