The transhumanists who are 'upgrading' their bodies
Winter Mraz says she loves having her keys in her hand but she does not mean holding them. She has actually had her door key implanted into her left hand in the form of a microchip.
The transhumanists who
are 'upgrading' their bodies
By Fraser GillanBBC Scotland's The Nine
6 October 2019
Media captionTranshumanism:
How far would you go for a body upgrade?
Winter Mraz says she loves having her keys in her hand but she
does not mean holding them. She has actually had her door key implanted into
her left hand in the form of a microchip.
In her right hand, she has had another microchip implant that
acts as her business card but could also be used to store important medical
information for use in the case of an emergency.
The 31-year-old engineer also has a magnet in one finger that
allows her to sense electro-magnetic fields, which she says helps in her work.
But not all her body upgrades are practical. Her latest
procedure is to have two LED implants, that turn on when a magnet is passed
above them, illuminating her skin from inside.
Why? "Because they are sparkly and I'm a magpie," she
says. "I like things that light up."
Winter is one of a growing number of people who call themselves
"transhumanists".
It is the belief that the humans can improve beyond their
physical and mental limitations and "upgrade" their bodies by
incorporating technology.
For Winter, her first "cyber-enhancements" were not
voluntary, they were through the hospital after a serious car crash in the
United States that fractured her back, both her ankles and her knees.
Her back was bolted together by surgeons and one of her kneecaps
was replaced with one that was 3D-printed, on the NHS.
"If it was not for my
cybernetic kneecap I would not be able to walk," she told BBC Scotland's The Nine.
After her accident she moved on to voluntary personal
modifications such as the microchips in her hands.
The RFID (radio-frequency-identification) chip in her left hand
works on the lock in her house door in the same way as many workplace security
cards operate. This means she does not have to carry keys and keeps her hand
free for her walking cane.
The NFC (near-field communication) chip in her right hand has many
potential uses. It is the same type of chip that allows phones and tablets to
easily share data with each other.
Winter says: "I think saying that you should not alter your
body and you should not change your body is a very ableist way to go about living.
People who are disabled don't have that choice. It is made for us."
How far would you go for a body
upgrade?
Steven Ryall, a 26-year-old technical operator from Manchester,
says he wants to have chips implanted to make "smart hands".
"We have smart TVs, smart phones, everything is
smart," he says. "Why can't I be smart?"
Steven believes that transhumanism is the logical next step in
human development. He wants be able to programme the technology in his body to
respond to his personal biology.
His "technological baptism" was at a private clinic in
Leicester, where he had his first implant.
The microchips are usually delivered by a syringe into the back
of the hand.
"I am slowly turning myself into part machine," he
says. "I don't mind being biological but if I could be part mechanical
that is so much more awesome than just my plain self."
Steven says the chip is "essentially" like those in a
contactless bank card. "I can get an RFID or NFC reader and hook it up to
a chip that I programme and then get that chip to recognise the chip in my hand
and do whatever I want," he says.
Steven is an evangelist for humans "upgrading"
themselves but he can understand why people might think it is an extreme thing
to do. He says friends and family think it is "weird and kooky" but
he believes that in the next five years they will start getting into it too.
What about the future?
Winter says wearable tech such as the Apple watch and Fitbit and
other "doctor on your wrist" health monitors have taken off in the
past few years and she believes that implants are the next logical step.
She says: "I don't think implants are inevitable but I
think they are getting better, longer-lasting, cooler and have more functionality.
It's going to be one more option people have."
Steven says he can easily see a time when companies are asking
employees to have implants for security ID to access building or computer
networks.
"I think that people would see it as an extreme thing
because they are looking from a historical perspective, they are not looking
forward," he says.
What are the medical and ethical
consequences?
At the moment there are loose regulations on who can do it and
most implants are done by tattoo artists and body piercers.
There are some people who are taking things into their own hands
by buying the tools off websites to perform the procedure themselves.
Bio-hacker Jenova Rain, who implanted Steven's chip at her
Leicester practice, said she was doing five implants a week and the numbers
were rising as interest grows.
Although regulations on bio-hacking specifically are sparse,
Jenova says she is covered to do implants as a tattoo artist and piercer.
Even though she promotes the idea of upgrading yourself through
her YouTube channel and website she has no chips or "upgrades"
herself. She says they would be "useless" for her.
Dr Mary Neal, professor of medicine and ethics at Strathclyde
University, said she was "not surprised" more people were getting
involved but there needed to be better regulation.
She said the procedure was similar to other body modification
such as botox but there were many ethical discussions that needed to be had
around bodily autonomy and regulation.
Dr Neal also said there were safety risks with people buying the
equipment from online sites and doing the procedures from home.
The Scottish government
told BBC Scotland's The Nine it
intended to regulate procedures carried out by non-healthcare professionals and
it was consulting on how this could be done.
A spokesman said it was looking at the "most proportionate
and appropriate measures" and the government's priority was the safety of
those involved.