A new electronic device that can be swallowed, implanted or attached to the skin could revolutionize health care and the way people interact with one another, according to MSN News.
"In the next 10 to 20 years we will see rapid development in bioengineered and man-machine interfaces," Amal Graafstra, 37, who wrote a book about "smart tattoo" technology and owner of the company Dangerous Things, told MSN News. He added that the trend is going to "push the boundaries of what it means to be human."
Graafstra invented the electronic device that would allow him access to his car, computer or home by simply waving his hands with implanted rice-size gadgets that emit radio frequency identification tags.
Although considered by its critics as an intrusive technology even to the point of sacrilegious, some researchers and companies are very interested in the topic. Some of them envision a world of people outfitted with the technology that will allow them to control computers, prosthetic devices, and other devices solely with their thoughts.
Last November, for example, Google's Motorola Mobility branch submitted a patent application in which it proposed an "electronic skin tattoo" for the human throat. The proposed design comes with a built-in microphone, battery and wireless transceiver that would allow a person to operate devices using voice control.
Another example interest in the technology is a scholarly paper published by UCB Berkeley researchers. They proposed implanting "neural dust," thousands of tiny sensors, in people's brains the initial purpose of which is to have the little circuits gather detailed data on how the brain functions, the report said.
However, Dongjin Seo, lead researcher of the study, said that the technology can actually be more useful for patients with motor control disabilities. The electronic swarms can work by "controlling devices via thought" or stimulate regions of the brain that have malfunctioned in order to restore "limb motor control for paralyzed patients."
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