What Is Human Augmentation - Bodyhacking

A month ago. I let my mom know that I'm planning on getting three more implants in my hands (I currently have a magnet in my left hand). Naturally, this led her to generate several questions - what exactly am I getting? What are the risks? How does it relate to my research? I was crafting my response to her and thought that it may have some benefit to the broader public, hence this instructable. I will be giving a very high-level overview of human augmentation, my experience with implants, and why I decided to get several.

Also, some of the pictures/videos included in this Instructable may include needles and small amounts of blood. If you are very squeamish, this Instructable may not be for you.

If you have any questions, want to keep up with my work, or just toss around ideas, please do so on my Twitter: @4Eyes6Senses. Thanks!

Throughout history, humans have cultivated their identities, jobs, and cultures through the tools and technologies they use. This cultivation is always in flux as new advancements are made, adopted, and then disrupt current societal trends. There is a novel genre of technologies and ideals that look to be the next great disruption – human augmentation and transhumanism. Currently, augmenters and transhumanists have cultivated small online and in-person communities, where they democratize the worlds of implantable tech, sensory extensions, biohacking, wearables, and pharmaceuticals in their basement labs and online forums. The focus here is not on glorifying the mythical “basement” or isolation from typical tech development. Quite the opposite, the passionate work these communities have done has begun to seep into popular society as a type of bodily empowerment, and are in many ways a continuation of movements that started from small communities of voluntary and eager participants (e.g., hot-rodders in the 60s, body piercing in the 70s, PC game modding in the 80s-90s, the maker movement, etc.).

In popular culture, a couple of transhumanist technologies have gained consistent attention from the media, enthusiasts, and detractors. These technologies - the implantable radio frequency identification (RFID) chip, near-field communication (NFC) chip, and implantable magnet - demonstrate two roles that human augmentation can play in people's lives. The RFID/NFC demonstrates the utility aspect of augmentation, where users can forgo the need for keys and identification cards in their everyday lives. The implantable magnet represents the sensory intrigue that this community has and introduces an additional sense to the human body (sense magnetic fields). The magnet represents what could be considered a typical or introductory augmentation, but unlike adjacent fields like augmented reality and virtual reality, where someone can fabricate their own introductory device out of craft materials and a phone, curious biohackers have no such option. I find this level of bodily commitment very interesting, and it raises the question of what wearables we can develop to make these sensory experiences more accessible to newcomers (a direction that I have been pursuing).

So let me preface this by stating I wasn't the brightest 19-20 year old and that I do not recommend that anyone gets their implant done by an amateur. Dangerous Things (the company that I've purchased all my implants from) has two excellent resources for finding a professional and how to approach a professional.

I got my first implant 4 years ago during my first year of undergrad at CU Boulder. I thought it would be really cool and edgy to get the implant without the assistance of a professional or in a sterile environment. The issue was that I didn't really know anybody on campus, eventually, I was able to scrounge up two somewhat reluctant, but curious classmates. The implant I got was the xEM RFID chip (figure 1), my intent was to use the chip for a couple of school projects involving access controllers and field detectors, it worked well until I eventually bricked the chip.

In regards to the injection, we fumbled the initial injection by not fully pressing down on the injector plunger before pulling it out of my hand. So we reinserted the needle with the blunt side of the RFID chip peaking out. The first injection wasn't that painful but the 2nd attempt was intensely painful (I didn't use any type of anesthetic). we bandaged the wound up and it healed perfectly.

The videos of my injections can be found below (warning - some blood and needles):

The removal of my RFID implant was in some ways the opposite of the insertion, in that it was done by a professional and there were no issues. After some poking around I found a doctor who was willing to take the chip out of me. The whole procedure took around 10-15 minutes with anesthetic and no stitches needed.

The video of my removal can be found below (warning - some blood and scalpels):

My second implant was performed by a professional from the finding a professional list from Dangerous Things. The implant I got was the xG3 Biomagnet in the "blade" of my left hand. I don't have much to say about the injection of this implant; it was quick, easy, and no blood! The video is below, the same warnings as the previous videos apply:

So far the magnet is my favorite implant that I've gotten, I find the sensory experiences that I observe with the implant (e.g. the anti-theft detector rail that you find in most retail stores) to be unique from anything I had ever felt previously. Also, a lot of my current work in e-textiles has me using strong magnets, these provide their own unique sensations when my implant comes into contact with one - imagine someone pulling on a fish hook that got stuck in your hand but isn't painful.

I'm very motivated by trying to answer the question "what does it mean for children to want to remake themselves for intellectual or creative purposes?" from a human augmentation perspective. This line of inquiry is not new at all, as adults for decades have probed youth and their cultures to understand why they find certain forms of self-expression enticing. Human augmentation and implants appear to be a continuation of what youth are already doing, I see very little difference between the implants that I discuss in this Instructable and the forms of self-expression that teens and young adults have historically gravitated towards (tattoos, body mods, piercing tattoos, cosplay). If we consider the room, with its posters, media, decorations, and accents, as an intimate/sacred reflection of our interests and who we are - then the body can act as an exhibition. I see my body/implants as a reflection of my own ideas and human augmentation interests, I have a hard time answering the "why?" question because my augmentations are so intertwined with who I am as a person and my vision for the future. So I guess the next time that someone asks me why I got my implants I'll just tell them "I don't know, I just felt like it." And no, this doesn't mean that I want to implant children, rather my intention is to gain an intimate familiarity with the technology that one day may impact their lives.