
Why I Had a Magnet Implanted in My Finger - weisser
http://www.wbur.org/cognoscenti/2016/07/06/biohacking-grinders-alex-pearlman
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implant
I've had a small NFC + RFID chip implanted in my hand (between the thumb and
index finger). I'm able to open my front door, unlock (not entirely, but it's
part of the process) my laptop and my phone and I'm looking for other uses as
well.

The idea of implanting something in myself was very off-putting to begin with.
But after I could see the practical uses, discussed some of the ideas people
had for usage it seemed like a pretty fun idea.

I received the xNTi from Dangerous Things which came pre-loaded in a syringe
for implant. Under the observation of a professional I implanted myself, two
months later there's no scar and I've mostly forgot about the chip except when
I use it to open or unlock things (and I think, damn that's cool) or I pass on
contact details to someone at bar via NFC who thinks I've just done a high-
tech magic trick.

I can feel and slightly move the implant beneath the skin, it's a little weird
to get used to, remembering "oh yeah that's the chip I implanted into my
hand".

I'd not recommend anyone performing surgery on themselves, however I'm pretty
familiar with some basic surgery on myself in various places of my body (that
sounds odd, but I've been in very odd situations) and I did my research
beforehand on the implant, as well as had a registered professional to oversee
the "DIY surgery" (really just made sure I sterilised properly and didn't
somehow sever an artery).

It's also safe for an MRI (which would have been the stopping point for me).

~~~
pavel_lishin
> _I 'd not recommend anyone performing surgery on themselves, however I'm
> pretty familiar with some basic surgery on myself in various places of my
> body (that sounds odd, but I've been in very odd situations)_

Can you share some of these situations?

edit: I see you posted a response, but it's flagged as [dead] for some reason
:/

~~~
implant
After a fall in a pretty remote area, I activated my emergency beacon and I
knew my lung was collapsing. I snapped one of my hollow tent poles and jabbed
myself in the chest cavity so I wouldn't suffocate (it was going to take them
30+ mins to get to me). A lot of after-care on that one, stabbing yourself
with a dirty tent pole doesn't make for nice infections.

Have had to give myself stomach and intramuscular injections for various
medical reasons too.

Have had to remove foreign metal form my leg, clean and stitch up the wound
which was relatively shallow but long. Another accident, car crash in a remote
area.

Always have a first aid kit handy! And probably don't hang out with me too
much away from civilisation..

~~~
waterphone
30 minutes is pretty good response time! The one occasion when I was involved
in a backcountry emergency it took 8 hours for the Air Force to arrive with
helicopters.

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spike021
There have been similar pieces by The Verge in the past ([1] and [2]).

People talk about the added perception that having an embedded magnet gives
them, but honestly while my hearing/sight isn't great I've been able to
sometimes get rather similar perceptions just through regular living. I think
one use case I've read about was walking on the street and feeling a subway
train below the ground. I've walked on a street before and felt the vibration
of the grinding tracks, heard the scratch and screech of hard wheels on rail,
and seen sparks or electric bolts when subway cars (at least Muni in SF)
temporarily lose power via their rooftop cables.

I've had those perceptions without any kind of body mods. Is the issue that
people nowadays are too stubborn to ignore the senses they already have, or
grow so tired and bored of them that they need to add a completely new one?

I'm not sure that it makes any real sense to have an implanted magnet in a
finger.

But hey, whatever floats people's boats; if there exist some people who
absolutely need to change their own perceptions then I suppose all the power
to them for making that decision and being capable of enduring the stress and
pain from the procedure.

[1] [http://www.theverge.com/2012/8/8/3177438/cyborg-america-
bioh...](http://www.theverge.com/2012/8/8/3177438/cyborg-america-biohackers-
grinders-body-hackers)

[2] [http://www.theverge.com/2014/7/31/5952647/cyborg-
conversion-...](http://www.theverge.com/2014/7/31/5952647/cyborg-conversion-
incomplete-my-life-with-finger-implants)

~~~
pavel_lishin
> _Is the issue that people nowadays are too stubborn to ignore the senses
> they already have, or grow so tired and bored of them that they need to add
> a completely new one?_

That's kind of a negative outlook on the whole thing, isn't it? I imagine
people said similar things about, for example, headphones, or GPS. And while
both of those things have potential downsides, people don't use them because
they're too lazy to read a paper map or too selfish to want to share a music
experience with friends.

~~~
bananaoomarang
I feel like both of those things have very clear advantages (ie, paper maps
are large and cumbersome, I can store much more data on a server, I don't want
to bring a boombox on the subway).

I'm all for people doing what they want as long as it's not extremely selfish,
but I cannot myself see a clear advantage to a magnet implant, other than:

A. Party tricks B. Telling people I have a magnet in my finger

I think it probably comes from a wish for ill-thought out sci-fi tropes with
the less than adequate technology at hand.

~~~
pavel_lishin
I think I agree with your last sentence - the current technology is pretty
crappy. But given our brains' plasticity, I don't see any reason against
grafting additional senses onto ourselves, anymore than I see any particularly
good reason against wearing a watch.

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redorb
I feel like a good 80% of having a magnet implanted is 1) so you can tell
people about your magnet implant or 2) to write article about a magnet
implant.

~~~
proc0
It's so you can do that paperclip trick. She removed it immediately after.

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slowmovintarget
You can get much of the same "sixth sense" by wearing a magnetic ring instead
of an implant... No worries of rejection or infection, and you get to loan the
"feeling" out when you talk about it.

Example: [https://supermagnetman.com/collections/magnetic-wedding-
ring...](https://supermagnetman.com/collections/magnetic-wedding-rings)

~~~
dpark
This comes up every time someone posts one of these articles. A ring at the
base of your finger will not provide the same sensation as a magnet under your
fingertip. The nerves are far more sensitive in your fingertips and the
transmission of vibration is far more effective when the magnet is trapped
between layers of skin vs sitting loosely at the base of a finger.

I expect you _could_ get a similar sensitivity from gluing a small rare earth
magnet to your fingertip.

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jkot
> _Implants are dangerous. They are not approved by any medical authority, and
> doctors refuse to perform implants because, unlike pacemakers or artificial
> hips, implanted electronics violate the Hippocratic Oath -- grinders implant
> magnets for the sake of augmentation and enhancement. They have no proven
> health benefits and could result in unnecessary harm._

That does not make much sense. Body piercing, circumcision, tattoo etc.. are
similar, but permitted and very common.

~~~
manachar
I wonder if you could get similar results by having some magnetic ink tattooed
into an optimal pattern on the hand.

~~~
jkot
Maybe write an app for smart watch. Most devices have compass and vibrations.

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akeck
Instead of surgery, I would probably go for something like a "compass belt"
for an augmented sense. A compass belt is a belt ringed with little cellphone
vibrators and a gps-based compass. Only the cellphone vibrator pointing north
is activated at any given time. If I recall correctly, the huge downside is
that, once you get used to having sensory north, not wearing the belt can be
very disorienting.

~~~
pavel_lishin
In Daniel Suarez's "Daemon" novel (or maybe its sequel), one character wears a
haptic feedback vest that covers their entire back and torso, with "pixels"
that vibrate. It was described as having a second sight, since it's
effectively like having low-res monochromatic vision in a 360 degree arc.

I'd be very curious to try something like that, but I have no idea what I'd
"project" on such a thing. I suppose if I were a farmer or rancher, it would
be interesting being constantly cognizant of where members of the herd were.

Maybe once my kid is older and starts crawling/running around, it might be a
fun thing to wear to a museum so I'm instantly made aware if she stars making
a bee-line away from me.

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TACIXAT
I had this done and my girlfriend got one implanted the day I got mine
removed. Her's is rejecting and should be removed too.

It was neat, but it sucks if you're physically active at all. It was always
sensitive / sore to touch. To the point that if I was doing pushups I had to
keep that finger off the ground. Overall, would not recommend.

~~~
nickthegreek
I've had one for around 8 years now, but it has lost its charge. I will need
to re-magnetize it at some point. Mine used to be sensitive as well but I
haven't had an issue with that for several years. Smashing that finger though
can be pretty rough! I've never heard of one of these magnets rejecting (I am
assuming it is in a silicone sheath). I do currently have a transdermal horn
that has been rejecting pretty hard for the past 5 years that I really need to
do something about though.

~~~
TACIXAT
Yea, hers is just a gnarly color right now. The silicone might have broken or
her body is just not having it.

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Jupe
Let's hope the author never needs an MRI.

~~~
valine
The author had the magnet removed after it became infected.

~~~
vibrio
I think the implication was that an MRI for something else might have removed
it much more quickly and less precisely

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nickthegreek
Steve Haworth, who pioneered magnetic implants and a bunch of other awesome
body modifications just recently launched his new venture, cyborg nest. Their
first product is a tiny device that attaches to 2 surface piercings and
vibrates whenever you face north.
[http://www.cyborgnest.net/](http://www.cyborgnest.net/)

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ThinkBeat
Yeah, um, I am going to pass on that whole thing. I prefer to stay away from
ERs.

I think this story teaches us that DIY surgery is not a good idea.

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ggggtez
Is there a reason you couldn't do the same thing with a magnet or two in the
finger tip of a glove?

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nathanvanfleet
I have heard that in general this is not as interesting as it appears. It
works but after a while you stop sensing it and scar tissue will grow around
it. Though I did at one point consider this.

This person didn't even seem to get that far.

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grymoire1
Hmmm... MRI's Pellets, Bullets, and Shrapnel
[http://www.mrisafety.com/SafetyInfov.asp?SafetyInfoID=192](http://www.mrisafety.com/SafetyInfov.asp?SafetyInfoID=192)

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darpa_escapee
Why I Keep Talking About Why I Had a Magnet Implanted in My Finger

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dbalan
Will you be able to travel if you have implants? What happens when the
scanners find something fishy? (Now I'm curious about medically approved
implants as well)

~~~
detaro
At least for medical implants you get an "implant passport" which lists the
implants and their locations, but if it is something that triggers metal
detectors they are going to check you of course.

An implant in the hand should be simple: if your hand triggers the metal
detector it is easy to verify that your hand is empty and that the location
matches the documentation. Small magnet probably doesn't even trigger it
though.

~~~
CognitiveLens
for a non-medical implant like this, though, you probably wouldn't be able to
get official documentation. I'd hope that sense would prevail and it wouldn't
be an issue, but good sense doesn't always govern airport security procedures,
particularly in the US.

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hello_there
It would be cool to do this with a compass. Would it be possible to make it
such that one could feel the pin even though it's encapsulated inside the
device?

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Pica_soO
How good is the timewise resolution of the feeling? Up to what frequencys can
you feel?

Sounds like becoming half a conjoiner out of science fiction, to be honest.

