| The
office really gets under your skin
Mobile communication takes leap
into the unknown
On the desk in front of me is a needle – the
same size as for blood transfusions. I have just tipped out of it
a tiny glass container, no bigger than a grain of rice. Inside is
an injectable computer: a chip, power generator, transmitter and
receiver. It’s a complete mobile communication system. My wife
bought it for me for £25 but she’s worried about electromagnetic
radiation and being married to a bionic man. (Feature article by
Dr Patrick Dixon published in The Times - Interface Section 30/12/98).
(For RFID update see: The next techno-wave: RFID - 10 billion wireless tagging devices . Wal-Mart races ahead with Radio Frequency Identification Devices (RFIDs): electronic barcodes for manufacturing, distribution and retail - major concerns about data leakage, privacy and civil rights.)
Several million of these injectable computers were
made in 1998 by companies such as Datamars in Switzerland. In future
these devices will hold bank account details, cash, passport, national
insurance numbers and medical
records.
Otherwise known as RFIDs or Radio Frequency Identification
Tags, first versions were used in Swatch watches, to pay for things
like ski lifts or buses. You paid money to have credit loaded onto
the watch which became a travel pass.
At a recent World
Economic Forum meeting at Davos we were all given these watches
to access our secure personal message system. These latest injectable
devices have just taken things a step further. What next?
I approach my car which knows who I am. The door swings
open and the driver seat plus steering wheel adjust to my usual
settings, the radio starts to play on my favourite station and a
speech unit offers to navigate me around traffic jams to Heathrow.
 When
I pass through the body scanner the airport system matches me to
a booked plane seat, gives me immigration clearance and then tracks
my progress towards the departure gate.
As I board the plane, a sensor in the aircraft door
activates the chip which tells the on-board flight system who I
am. "Welcome Dr Dixon, seat 4a is ready for you. This flight
is worth 450 air miles."
I arrive in New York and hire a car, which also recognises
me from a distance and adjusts everything exactly as at home. The
hotel room unlocks and bills me as I enter. Room service arrives
to stock the fridge with favourite minibar items plus the extras
I usually order such as fresh milk, bread and French cheese.
 None
of this is science fiction. All of this is possible using today’s
tools. It’s just a question of connecting them together and
1999 is the year of new connections.
These high-tech injectable body-chips need no battery
and last forever. They are powered by radio waves from devices such
as scanners, and once activated begin transmitting and receiving
data, which can be stored permanently. 1999 versions will measure
body heat. Further ahead, expect readouts of blood sugar, blood
pressure and pulse.
Today these chips are being injected into animals
ranging from cats, dogs, race horses and exotic fish. If the government
has its way, every pet in the country could be carrying these "pet
passports" giving owner details and vaccination history. They
are also being used in all kinds of products and packaging so that
retailers, wholesalers and distributers can track the exact location
of what they sell.
For more traditional people on the move Nokia’s
latest Communicator will be released early in the new year. The
first was launched over two years ago with complete integration
of a digital mobile phone with e-mail, web browser, conference calls,
fax, diary, word processor and contacts book. Even now the old
Communicator is streets ahead of any competitor as a mobile office.
The new model is half the size, more powerful with
colour screen and batteries lasting up to a week. Sadly it has no
video camera, limited not just by phone technology but by network
data speeds set at a miserly 9600kbps.
Expect plenty more scare stories in 1999 about radiation
from mobiles and pressure on manufacturers to give health warnings.
There is some evidence that mobiles
can alter human cells, raising blood pressure and affecting brain
function. The risks are probably very small in normal use, but
media hype will make many think twice before injecting computers
under their skin.
For more see: The next techno-wave: RFID - 10 billion wireless tagging devices
Wal-Mart races ahead with Radio Frequency Identification Devices (RFIDs): electronic barcodes for manufacturing, distribution and retail - major concerns about data leakage, privacy and civil rights
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