Today is the Big Day for the

Chip Implant VeriChip.
Is human chip implant wave of the future?



January 14, 1999
Web posted at: 3:21 p.m. EST (2021 GMT)

by Sam Witt

(IDG) -- Is the human body a fit place for a microchip? The debate is no longer hypothetical. The same computing power that once required an entire building to harness now can be inserted in your left arm.

Better yet, somebody else's left arm.

Professor Kevin Warwick, director of cybernetics at the University of Reading in the U.K., is that somebody else. On Monday, Aug. 24, 1998, Warwick became the first human to host a microchip. During a 20-minute medical procedure described as "a routine silicon-chip implant" by Dr. George Boulos, who led the operation, doctors inserted into Warwick's arm a glass capsule not much bigger than a pearl. The capsule holds several microprocessors.
The rise and fall of IDChip.com
And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

— Revelation 13:16-18


The British Broadcasting Corp. was on hand to document the historic event - and to trouble the professor's already frayed nerves. "In theory, I was able to see what was going on," Warwick says in a phone interview several days after the operation (which he described as slightly more pleasant than a trip to the dentist), "but I was looking in the opposite direction most of the time."


Although Warwick winces at the comparison, Boulos likens him to a latter-day Edward Jenner, who injected himself with cowpox in 1776 to further his research into a smallpox vaccine.

"The doctor pinched the skin and lifted it up and sort of burrowed a hole . . . underneath the skin and on top of the muscle," Warwick says. "It's well inside my body, in my left arm, just above my elbow. [It's] held in place by three stitches - partly so that the wound is held together, but also so that the capsule doesn't float around anywhere."

Though he declines to reveal the chip's manufacturer, Warwick did disclose that it's a "commercial" product. "For obvious reasons, both positive and negative, they didn't want us shouting about what the name of the exact product was," he says.

The approximately 23mm-by-3mm device stayed in Warwick's arm for only nine days - partly to avoid medical complications, partly because it was fairly limited in power. "Half of it is an electric coil," Warwick says, "and half is a number of silicon chips." The chips used only eight of an available 64 bits of information to communicate with the University of Reading's intelligent building.

Which brings us to the question: Why?


Warwick has spent more than 20 years researching and developing intelligent buildings. "In our building in the Cybernetics department, we've got quite a number of doorways rigged up so that they pass a radio signal between the door frame," he says. "When I go through the doorways, the radio signal energizes the coil. It produces an electric current, which the chips use to send out an identifying signal, which the computer recognizes as being me."

And so, for a little better than a week, doors that normally require smart cards swung open for the professor. A system of electronic nodes tracked his movements throughout the building. Lights blinked on when he entered a room.

"Hello, Professor Warwick," his PC announced when Warwick crossed the threshold of his office, before casually mentioning how many E-mail messages he had received. It also was reported that Warwick used the device to run a bath and chill his wine.



How did he like it? "In my building I feel much more powerful, in a mental way," Warwick says. "Not at one with the computer, but much, much closer. We're not separate. It's not as though we're good friends or anything. But certainly when I'm out of the building, I feel as though part of me is missing."

Asked if he named his chip, Warwick laughs. "I don't see it as a separate thing," he says. "It's like an arm or a leg."

Warwick's family was a little slower than his body to accept the chip. "My wife finds it really strange," he says. "She didn't want to go near my arm for a couple of days. It was as though I had some funny disease." His 16-year-old daughter reportedly called him "crazy."


And the day after the operation, Warwick played a game of squash with his son, but not before issuing a stern warning: "Whatever you do, don't hit my arm. The implant could just shatter, and you'll have ruined your father's arm for life."

Real-world applications

Though the experiment sounds like an episode of Dr. Who, its real-world implications are "right around the corner," says Warwick, who foresees enormous medical applications. Through a system of embedded chips interfacing with an artificial motor system, Warwick imagines paraplegics walking. And that's just for starters.

"Simply take measurements off muscles and tendons and feed them into the transponder," Warwick says. "That means, ultimately, that you wouldn't need a computer mouse anymore. You wouldn't need a keyboard."

Charles Ostman, a senior fellow at the Institute for Global Futures and science editor at Mondo 2000, agrees. "Neuroprosthetics are . . . inevitable," he says. "Biochip implants may become part of a rote medical procedure. After that, interface with outside systems is a logical next step."


Warwick's eagerness is palpable, engaging, contagious. "This is where you can speculate," he says. "This is where we take a technical thing and say, 'Right-o, got the signal, got the implant; all I've got to do is run a wire from the implant to my nervous system.' . . . I'm so excited about it, I want to get on with the next step straight away. Let's see if we can control computers directly from our nervous system."

Witt is a freelance writer in San Francisco. Top photo by Mark Harrison. Bottom two photos provided by INS Newsgroup.

The rise and fall of IDChip.com

And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:

And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

— Revelation 13:16-18


Dateline: 09/01/99

By David Emery

The Internet was abuzz two weeks ago with news that a multi-billion dollar company called Global Monetary </gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://www.idchip.com/s1/entry.htm> had established a Web presence to promote its plan to implement a "proprietary global system of exchange, customer tracking and profiling."



http://www.adsx.com/prodservpart/verichip.html

Tough sell ahead for the VeriChip implant ID system
VeriChip

VeriChip Big News May 10 2002

Florida Family Get Medical Info Chip Implants <http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20020510/tc_nm/health_chip_dc_2> (Reuters)
...-- volunteered to be first to be implanted with the VeriChip, made by Palm Beach-based Applied Digital Solutions, Inc. and underwent the brief procedure...
- May 10 2:29 PM ET

Florida Family Get Medical Info Implants <http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20020510/ts_nm/health_chip_dc_2> (Reuters)
...-- volunteered to be first to be implanted with the VeriChip, made by Palm Beach-based Applied Digital Solutions, Inc. and underwent the brief procedure...
- May 10 2:29 PM ET

Family Gets Computer Chips Implant <http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020510/ap_on_hi_te/implantable_chip_2> (AP)
...The chips, called the VeriChip, were designed by Palm Beach-based Applied Digital Solutions Inc. They are similar to chips...
- May 10 1:09 PM ET

Family gets computer chips implanted for medical information; similar technology used on pets <http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020510/ap_wo_en_ge/us_implantable_chip_1> (AP)
...The chips, called the VeriChip, were designed by Palm Beach-based Applied Digital Solutions Inc. They are similar to chips...
- May 10 11:09 AM ET

Family chipper about its microchip implants <http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/usatoday/20020508/cm_usatoday/4092823> (USA TODAY)
...VeriChip,'' produced by Applied Digital Solutions that provides instant access to medical information....
- May 08 6:01 AM ET

Roll Up Your Sleeve -- for a Chip Implant <http://biz.yahoo.com/bizwk/020322/nf200203211025_45.html> (Business Week)
... the South Florida family plans to be the first in the country to have the VeriChip, a tiny radio-frequency device about the size of a grain of rice,......ADS Vice-President Keith Bolton insists that VeriChips will be used only in voluntary situations....
- Mar 22 7:56 AM ET

acquired with a specialized digital reader. Photo by Colin Braley/Reuters


The VeriChip seen in this magnified image, will be implanted for the first time in a family in Boca Raton, Florida, May 10, 2002. The chip, which is a product of Applied Digital Solutions, Inc. will contain personal medical information which can be acquired with a specialized digital reader. Photo by Colin Braley/Reuters

Here is their stock over the last 4 days, Hmmmmm...

Richard M. Smith (rms@computerbytesman.com <mailto:rms@computerbytesman.com?subject=VeriChip>)
December 27, 2001

Applied Digital Solutions <http://www.adsx.com/> faces a very tough sell for its new VeriChip <http://www.adsx.com/VeriChip/verichip.html> implant ID system for human beings. A VeriChip is a small radio transmitter about the size of a piece of rice that is injected under a person's skin. It transmits a unique personal ID number whenever it is within a few feet of a special receiver unit. The technology is designed to replace ID systems such as company ID cards and medical emergency ID braclets. In the future VeriChips may also be used like driver licenses, passports, and credit cards.

For most folks, the idea of being injected with an electronic transmitter is just plain creepy. However for many Christians, the product will likely be rejected on religious grounds. They'll be worried that the use of the product will mean paying the ultimate price: eternal damnation in hell. VeriChip sounds too much like the Mark of the Beast which is described in the New Testament.

Here's what the Book of Revelations has to say about how a VeriChip-like systems might be used in the future:

"He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name." (Rev. 13:16, NIV Translation)

Here's why Christians will likely stay away from a product like the VeriChip:

"A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: 'If ANYONE worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on the forehead or on the hand, he, too, will drink of the wine of God's fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. He will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or for anyone who receives the mark of his name." (Rev. 14:9, NIV Translation)

In a recent LA Times article, Keith Bolton, the Chief Technology Officer of Applied Digital Solutions offers his thoughts why people will be more accepting of this technology:

A Chip ID That's Only Skin-Deep <http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/la-000100545dec19.story>

"The bottom line is, when people are trying to regain their peace of mind, they're more open to new approaches"


According to a 1997 article by Stephen Morse, concerns about the Mark of the Beast killed all discussions of a national ID card for the U.S. during the Reagan presidency:

The National ID Card: It's Baaack! <http://www.cato.org/dailys/9-23-97.html>

Then-Attorney General William French Smith argued that a perfectly harmless ID card system would be necessary to reduce illegal immigration. A second cabinet member asked: why not tattoo a number on each American's forearm? According to Martin Anderson, the White House domestic policy adviser at the time, Reagan blurted out "My god, that's the mark of the beast." As Anderson wrote, "that was the end of the national identification card" during the Reagan years.

The technology for the VeriChip was originally developed by Destron Fearing <http://www.destron.com/>, a subsidiary of Applied Digital Solutions. Their Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) products are used to track labroratory animals and livestock and help locate lost pets like cats and dogs.

More Links to Explore,,,,,

VeriChip <http://www.adsx.com/prodservpart/verichip.html>
... VeriChip Corporation. Miniaturized, Implantable Identification Technology
With Emergency, Healthcare and Security Applications. ...
www.adsx.com/prodservpart/verichip.html - 7k -

ADSX Press Releases <http://www.adsx.com/news/2001/121901.html>
... APPLIED DIGITAL SOLUTIONS INTRODUCES VERICHIP™, A MINIATURIZED, IMPLANTABLE
IDENTIFICATION DEVICE WITH A VARIETY OF MEDICAL, SECURITY AND EMERGENCY ...
www.adsx.com/news/2001/121901.html - 13k -
Tough sell ahead for the VeriChip implant ID system.
Richard M. Smith (rms@computerbytesman ...
computerbytesman.com/privacy/verichip.htm - 5k -


The summary for this Russian page contains characters that cannot be correctly displayed in this language/character set.
www.compulenta.ru/news/2002/4/5/27973/ - 32k -
... Florida Family to Get VeriChip, Pioneers would be first
humans to receive controversial ID implants. ...
www.techtv.com/news/culture/story/ 0,24195,3372523,00.html - 93k
... VeriChip Is There When You Need It, The chip has many life-saving
benefits and doesn't pose a risk to privacy. ...
www.techtv.com/siliconspin/features/ story/0,23008,3375490,00.html - 34k -
... VeriChip Receives Favorable FDA Guidance - Sales, Marketing and Distribution
of VeriChip to Begin in the United States. ...
biz.yahoo.com/bw/020404/40076_1.html - 10k -


... Applied Digital Solutions Introduces Verichip, a Miniaturized, Implantable Identification
Device With a Variety of Medical, Security and Emergency Applications. ...
biz.yahoo.com/bw/011219/190064_1.html - 13k -
... Getting Under Our Skin By Thomas Claburn A GPS embedded in your forearm? Applied
Digital Solutions aims to implant the masses with its controversial VeriChip. ...

It happened today. The chip was installed.
Many Links will corroborate