DUBAI: Tired of misplacing – and losing – your IDs, swipe cards and keys? The Swedes just got the upper hand of dealing with this stressful, daily human conundrum.
They have resorted to having microchips as small as a grain of rice implanted into their bodies so that they don’t need to carry these objects of annoyance.
Business Insider, citing a dispatch from Agence France Presses (AFP) international news agency, recently reported that some 3,000 people in Sweden have inserted a microchip under their skin over the past three years.
The technology, according to the report, was first used in the country in 2015.
“The implants have already helped replace the need for a host of daily necessities. Ulrika Celsing’s microchip, which is in her hand, has replaced her gym card and office key card. When she enters her workplace, the 28-year-old simply waves her hand near a small box and types in a code before the doors open,” the AFP report said.
There is more. According to the report, the state-owned SJ rail line started scanning the hands of passengers last year with biometric chips to collect their train fare while on board.
But it appears the chip implants are a continuing work in progress. AFP cited Ben Libberton, a microbiologist at MAX IV Laboratory in southern Sweden as saying the chip implants could cause infections or reactions in the body’s immune system. (AP photo)
