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Ask HN: What do you actually use your biohack implants for?

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Ask HN: What do you actually use your biohack implants for?

#1

Post by amingilani »

I have an NFC implant from dangerous things in my left hand. When I got it I was imagining unlocking doors with a wave but since most scanners are incompatible I've been unable to use it at my last two office buildings.

I plan on getting a door lock for my apartment but maybe next month when I move into a new one.

Nowadays the only practical use I have for it is a party trick where I convince people that their phones have had DNA recognition for years. When I hold it up to my hand, up pops the vcard in my chip leaving them amazed about the technology they never knew their phone had.

Sometimes they find the truth incredilous and refuse to accept that I have a chip implant when I make the reveal. I guess DNA scanning is more believable.

Re: Ask HN: What do you actually use your biohack implants for?

#4

Post by wfriesen »

lordnacho wrote: post #2

Could you possibly use it as a train ticket? A number of modern commuter systems now have swipe system that are NFC chips. Is it programmable?

Somebody has done it in Australia, although it seems it was frowned upon by the body that issues the cards.

http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2017-06-27/sydney-bio-hacker-h...

Re: Ask HN: What do you actually use your biohack implants for?

#6

Post by cup »

There are plenty of uses. Braces for teeth straightening. Cochlea implant for assisted hearing. Bionic eye to improve sight. Insulin pump to regulate blood glucose levels. Pace maker to supplement failing pacemaker cells.

Never understood why people associated "biohack implants" with sticking a magnet or NFC chip in your finger.

Re: Ask HN: What do you actually use your biohack implants for?

#8

Post by larssg »

wfriesen wrote: post #4
lordnacho wrote: post #2

Could you possibly use it as a train ticket? A number of modern commuter systems now have swipe system that are NFC chips. Is it programmable?

Somebody has done it in Australia, although it seems it was frowned upon by the body that issues the cards. http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2017-06-27/sydney-bio-hacker-h...

It's allowed in Sweden: http://nordic.businessinsider.com/swedish-rail-company-scans...

Re: Ask HN: What do you actually use your biohack implants for?

#9

Post by amingilani »

lordnacho wrote: post #2

Could you possibly use it as a train ticket? A number of modern commuter systems now have swipe system that are NFC chips. Is it programmable?

It's a passive tag, so I can edit it all I want but then again I live in Pakistan, our tickets are paper :)

Re: Ask HN: What do you actually use your biohack implants for?

#10

Post by BjoernKW »

michjedi wrote: post #3

You could easily cut an Oyster Card chip out of the card, stick it in your hand and use it to travel in London.

Something like this has been done before, albeit in the form of objects like rings:

http://www.ds72.com/projects/oyster-ring

So while possible unfortunately tampering with Oyster cards is frowned upon by TfL. It might not technically be illegal but it'll certainly run you into problems when checked by traffic inspectors.

The answer to this StackExchange question gives an in-depth explanation of the Oyster card's cryptographic architecture, which shows that the card being as tamper-proof as possible is very much by design:

https://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/78013/can-i-...

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