There are predictable questions I get asked over and over again when someone finds out what I research, and that I have 2 microchips inside my body. These same questions pop up on social media every time I appear on TV or in the news.

Some people refused to believe the reality of how these chips work, and there’s no point trying to change these minds; the “the Government is secretley tracking you with a microchip you received at birth, it’s all about the New World Order and they’ll switch you off if you don’t comply” crowd.

This post is not for them. This post answers the FAQs for people genuinely interested in learning about the technology and educating themselves on the reality.

According to Tile, Australian’s spend an average of 29 minutes per day searching for something they have lost. To get around the fallibility of human memory, people have taken to ‘life hacks’ so that they can’t forget their pass. Some individuals have gotten small microchips, the size of a grain of rice, underneath their skin for the guarantee that as long as they have their hand (which for the record, none of them have forgotten) they cannot forget their keys.

I appear in this article by Kate Stanton. This article was first published on Pursuit. This post only shows my section. Read the full article to read about Bionic Vision, Intelligent Transport, Robots and Cyborgs and the Bionic Spine.

As technology becomes smaller, the way we carry it has progressed from luggable, to wearable and now towards devices that reside inside the human body, or insertables. We demonstrate this trajectory towards devices inside the human body, and carve out insertables as a specific subset of devices which are voluntary, non-surgical and removable.

I gave a 10 minute talk at UX Austrlaia 2016 on my PhD work — Insertables. The audio is available on Sound Cloud and this post covers most of what I talk about. 

There are 4 broad groups that people fall in to when it comes to microchips within humans. Many fuelled by misconceptions about how they work. 

As headlines proclaim that microchips injected under the skin could allow employers to track our every move, the reality is very different.

Consenting adults receive microchips with zero tracking & monitoring capabilities. A response to recent media over-reactions (AKA lies) 

The human body has emerged as more than just a canvas for wearable electronic devices. Technological size and cost reductions, along with power and battery improvements, has meant items that were once external have become wearable, and even insertable. 

In part 2 we look at our results - what are participants inserting and what does this mean for the future of HCI & UX?

The human body has emerged as more than just a canvas for wearable electronic devices. Technological size and cost reductions, along with power and battery improvements, has meant items that were once external have become wearable, and even insertable.

Part 1 gives background to my research to be presented at the CHI conference in San Jose this week.