Merging Man and Machine: LiveSimplicity discussion forum

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Bionetics is the incorporation of technology into the body. Dermal displays, for example, could display your nutrition levels. Health information could be carried on the same chip as well as personalised home and car settings. Would this make life easier?

View A

Bionetics would provide a convenient way to carry important personal health information and allow for personalisation throughout our daily lives.

View B

Bionetics would be an invasion of my personal space. I don't want to be embedded with a chip of any kind. We can find other ways to carry personal and health information.

11 comment(s) so far

Techy23 thinks: I think this would be an interesting option, but it could be decades before we see something like this being used in our everday lives. How amazing would it be to have digital readouts show as replacable tatoos on your skin almost like LCD straight to your skin surface. Eventually, it seems, if things move in this direction, we will become a sort of bionic human. What next? Cell phones embedded in my ear?

GenC thinks: I guess the ultimate questions people are concerned about when it comes to technology that carries personal information is the potential for misuse of that information by others. I personally have no problem with this type of technology, but it seems that many would also regard it as "big brother" watching over us. I'm sure at some point in the distant future this will not seem so outragious as we have bionic body part replacing those human parts that have failed us.

Maverick thinks: i think i would have to object to implanting foreign objects inside my body unless it is going to save my life.

Simpler thinks: then the chip should also be RFID enabled so I could pay in stores, check in to hotels and in airports, etc. with no hassle. Only if the benefit was substantial would I allow this intrusion of my body.

innov8 thinks: I wouldn't be apposed to it as long as it only carried health information. I'm not sure I'd want my personal information on it. But, in the event that something were to happen, I'd want to make sure doctors know my health situation.

Aos thinks: I can see a chip carrying all of our important health information. I doubt that it would be invasive as a tiny chip would produce minimal if no discomfot and would provide valuable information that one day may save your life.

rorki thinks: I don't have a problem with others being able to read the data so much, only if it's possible to hack this info, modify and present your information as being someone else. Last thing you need is for this to be an in-secure product, you get to the airport, your kids hack into you from their PDA, and as you go through the passport scanner it shows the name Mickey Mouse, complete with digital likeness... or something more dangerous, like a footballer banned from travelling, or a terrorist...

Maven thinks: It wouldn't have to be a chip necessarily. I would rather avoid that type of tagging. A fingerprint works just as well. There are a variety of systems already using fingerprint identification or retina scans to access personal information. It's just a matter of where to keep the information and whether it will be secure.

deisel thinks: I have to say that i think that implanting anything in the body is a surely safety concern. Additionally, relying on technology for health concerns does not seem like the best option unless it's absolutley a life and death situation.

Maverick thinks: Here's are some great reasons why RFID would not be effective. Maybe another technology could come along and resolve all the RFID issues, but privacy concerns will always be an issue with technology that carries personal information.

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