Just forget smartphones and smart glasses. One day, we might have smart tattoos. The company Newdealdesign came up with an idea for a product called UnderSkin. This device would look like a pair of tattoos on your hand, but it would in fact be a very thin computer implanted just below your skin. It would draw power from the energy of your body, and you could use it to open doors, monitor your health, exchange and store information, or even express your personality. UnderSkin is just an idea, but the technology will make it work. "We expect it is about five years from being real," says designer Gadi Amit.
Amal Gratlstra, a writer and businessman, already has a chip called a radio-frequency identifcation (RFID) tag, which is implanted in his left hand"I use it to connect with my computer. I also use it to get in touch with people and carry out my daily work," he says." The chip is about the size of a grain of rice. It is so light that I can even not feel it." he adds.
If a computerized tattoo or implanted tag isn't crazy enough for you, what about a brain chip?
The company Intel is working on technology that would let you control your devices like computers and TVs with your brain. Dean Pomerleau, one of the researchers, explains, "We're trying to show that you can do interesting things with brain waves. Imagine being able to surf the Internet with the power of your thoughts."
Do you think implanted chips sound terrible or cool? Some doctors are afraid that people may hurt themselves with devices implanted. They argue that medical operations are meant to save sick people and not to give healthy people special powers. Others worry about hacking and privacy. Could someone hack in and steal your personal information, or even control your mind? On a more philosophical level, if you have a computer inside your body, are you still human? Or are you a robot?
