
Man Implants Giant Computer Into His Arm Without Doctors - alexgrcs
http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/11/01/this-guy-implanted-a-giant-computer-chip-into-his-arm-without-medical-supervision/
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Ellipsis753
It can read his body temperature and send it via bluetooth. It also has 3
status leds. Now honestly, the question really is, why is this so large? You
can easily get a temperature sensor and logger along with a small battery that
would be the size of a coin in total. Since it has wireless connectivity he
could just transmit status over that instead of using leds? It looks far, far
too large for what it does...

~~~
infinitone
I think it does more than just temperature, but has other biometrics. I'm
assuming this based on the project on their site:
[http://www.grindhousewetware.com/Circadia.html](http://www.grindhousewetware.com/Circadia.html)

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DanBC
Part of the reason it's huge is that it's a body-modification. That's an
aesthetic choice. It could be made smaller, but then people don't see it, and
so what's the point of having it? With a huge lump under your arm people say
"What's that huge lump?" and you can then talk about how you're a cyborg.

In the UK getting someone else to help you is putting that person at risk of
serious legal problems. Probably around the assault or grievous bodily harm.

Gibson said something like 30 years ago (about implantable watches) "Why don't
they just carry it around in a pocket?". I forget which book, and what the
exact quote is, and I don't have them at this house to check. But if I want to
know my temperature I'll use an infra-red thermometer in my ear.

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LionRoar
I am not put off by the DIY surgery or the size of the computer. But I was
astonished by this line: 'the chip can record Cannon's body temperature and
transfer it in real time via Bluetooth.' If I would attempt such a thing like
this I would make sure it could do a lot more!

Direct link to the article: [http://motherboard.vice.com/blog/the-diy-
cyborg](http://motherboard.vice.com/blog/the-diy-cyborg)

Spoiler: there are no pictures of the biohack surgery

~~~
larrybolt
I certainly agree with that, it seems the only two functions of the implant
are measuring the temperature and making light up his arm a little bit.

I am however curious to see how this project will advance, will he be able to
use his arm like he did before, won't it affect his health in any way... how
about heath generated by the device itself...

But being honest about it, this is cool! I always imagined with the current
technologies (think google glass, thalmic's myo, current smartphones) we will
come very soon to a time where wearable computers will make our live much
easier, the only bottleneck seems to be we haven't got batteries that could
last longer than a day and power such a device.

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chasing
I feel like the actual medical community is almost certainly working on
technology like this that will actually be:

1) Useful.

2) Safe.

That'll be cool. As for what this guy's actually contributing... Not really
sure.

(Other projects on their site also kind of sound like bullshit. For example:

"The idea is to stimulate your brain with direct current (in the case of tDCS)
or with square waves of current (in the case of CES) which can either raise or
lower the potential energy of the stimulated neurons, depending on the
orientation of electrodes. This allows them to fire more or less easily, and
activates or deactivates a given region, thus engaging certain brain states."
-[http://www.grindhousewetware.com/thinkingcap.html](http://www.grindhousewetware.com/thinkingcap.html)

Sounds like either pseudo-science or wishful thinking to me.)

~~~
Geee
Nothing pseudo-science about tDCS:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transcranial_direct-
current_sti...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transcranial_direct-
current_stimulation)

~~~
chasing
Interesting. Also:
[http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/psychiatry/specialty_areas/br...](http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/psychiatry/specialty_areas/brain_stimulation/tdcs.html)

At any rate, if these were researchers at Johns Hopkins, that'd be one thing.
But I won't believe that this product does what they claim unless they do
actual studies with it and post them on their site. But. I suspect they won't.
Because I suspect they're using the Soylent scientific process: "We tried it
on ourselves and it seems to work! And didn't kill us!"

~~~
Geee
tDCS devices are simple like that, just DC current in your brain. There has
been a lot of discussion about them on HN:
[https://www.hnsearch.com/search#request/all&q=tdcs&start=0](https://www.hnsearch.com/search#request/all&q=tdcs&start=0)

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failrate
Some body modification enthusiasts currently get significantly large silicon
implants placed under the skin. The most common one appears to be synthetic
horns, but large symbols in relief and larger abstract forms placed along
muscles/against bone are also feasible. Note, when I say "feasible" I mean
that no apparent reduction in function is caused by the implant. In this
fellow's case, it might even be a good idea for him to encapsulate a wireless
unit within a silicon sheath to avoid any kind contamination. That could
increase the bulk of the unit considerably.

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aspensmonster
>It’s also huge, since it comes with a battery pack that charges wirelessly.

This is one of the main problems with sub-dermal implants. You don't want
anything trans-dermal, because it's a recipe for infection. But if it's sub-
dermal, it not only needs to be biocompatible but also needs to wirelessly
transmit data. This implies a need for a power source of some sort that won't
overheat. I sincerely hope he's thought this through, because if that battery
gets too hot, he's going to destroy a lot of tissue, to say nothing of how
biocompatible the device is.

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benologist
I don't understand why the thing is roughly the size of a phone...

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james4k
Well, that arm is going to basically be unusable.

~~~
ByronT
Oh, I hope he never falls on it.

~~~
baby
You'd be surprised how limited you are once you get a piercing. A simple
piercing.

I got one at the eyebrow, I loved it (and especially the ladies my age) but
you have to restrain yourself a lot. You can't bump into someone, you cannot
really sleep on your head, you have to take care when you're taking off your
Tshirt, or when you're washing your face, drying your face, wearing glasses,
and on and on.

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Ahnon
The functionality doesn't seem to be greater than that of wearable sensors. It
does get people's attention though and like good art, makes you think. Where's
your threshold? What would it need to do before you'd be willing to take the
risk? Are there better locations for the device? What about upgrades and
recharging? Their way works but what's better? Definitely a useful exercise.

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TeeWEE
This guy is crazy.
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_R3hxcgvOTw#t=144](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_R3hxcgvOTw#t=144)
I think he is in it for the thrill. Not usable at all, much to big, better to
just have a smartphone in your pocket. Or an arduino with sensors on your
skin. Instead of implanting this.

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Simon321
For people complaining it's big, the guy on reddit's futurology subreddit who
helped design it said it was just the first step, it will shrink in size and
grow in features.

[http://www.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/1ohqpl/this_is_t...](http://www.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/1ohqpl/this_is_the_very_first_prototype_of_something/ccs19fx)

He also said it's just temporary, for 3 months.

[http://www.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/1ohqpl/this_is_t...](http://www.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/1ohqpl/this_is_the_very_first_prototype_of_something/ccs7pc6)

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nivertech
I disappointed that device have no USB plug aka BioPort ;)

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Rhapso
About time. The fact this can be done with "relative" safety needs to be
publicized. It wont get safer or smaller until people make statements that
there is a demand for such technology. And as to all the people going on about
how foolish it is, right now with the legal, financial, and social barriers,
this is the only way it can be done. And even smarter to do it while we still
have effective antibiotics.

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mahyarm
Why doesn't he just use a basis band or a bodymedia device? It measures temps
& more and you don't have to risk an infection.

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bane
The cyborgs I thought about as a kid were way cooler than this lameness. They
talk about this like it's some history making implant that's never been done
before, yet much more sophisticated implants for various ailments like ICDs
are quite common.

A 10 year old with a cochlear implant is way more impressive than this.

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etrautmann
I'm not clear why this is a story. This is hardly interesting from a
technology standpoint even as a proof of concept.

I'm guessing it grabs peoples' attention based on the pain this person went
through to perform surgery on himself, but this too doesn't strike me as a
story.

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anigbrowl
This is the original article: [http://motherboard.vice.com/blog/the-diy-
cyborg](http://motherboard.vice.com/blog/the-diy-cyborg) (which would have
been better to submit than the Time magazine blogspam).

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sanoli
Being that big and having a battery, I would have implanted a tiny mp3 player
with a smallish speaker. Waay cooler (because to me he did it pretty much for
the 'cool' factor).

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Osmium
How completely and utterly ridiculous and reckless. I understand the thrill,
but jeez... And good luck walking through an airport in future!

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xlayn
Even a nexus 4 in a complete sealed bag would be smaller and more
functional.... included leds, lot of sensors, cell chips and others...

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jlebrech
you weren't joking when you said GIANT. Couldn't he have made it the size of
an ipod/fitbit or something.

~~~
larrybolt
I'm only guessing, but I think the reason it's soo big is because they want it
to be "DIY" and a bluetooth-module and wireless-recharging module cannot be
made much smaller, not to forget that thing also needs to have a battery that
can hold out long enough!

~~~
sitharus
Wireless charging, perhaps, but I have a bluetooth module with embedded CPU
and GPIO pins that's not much larger than 2x2cm.

I'm pretty sure the reason for the size is aesthetics, rather than
requirement.

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infinitone
Does the GPIO include analog? If so, can you link me :D

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sitharus
[http://www.ti.com/product/cc2540](http://www.ti.com/product/cc2540)

12-bit ADC onboard. Also two serial (SPI/UART) and an AES module.

Microcontrollers pack so much in these days.

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p4bl0
I saw that a few days ago. It's disgusting. I couldn't even read the article
because of the images.

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supergirl
ok, thanks for letting us know, author of most useless comment ever.

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DanBC
Warning people of gore isn't useless. Your comment, however...

~~~
thenerdfiles
C'mon, everyone. Our [deepest felt] opinions just have to be valid, or else
where will all that humanity go?

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plywoodtrees
Wow, at least round off the corners!

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prakster
Duuuude, do a Kickstarter campaign or something to cut that down to size!

