High-tech subcutaneous implants, used for years for animals, are starting to spread in humans. An autumn afternoon at Stockholm Central Station. To check e-tickets on passengers’ phones, the controller of the 2:20 p.m. train to Linköping uses her smartphone, provided by SJ, the railway company. When she arrives in front of Jens Tangefjord, an elegant 40-year-old, he raises his right hand and explains that his ticket is in a microchip implanted under the skin, between his thumb and forefinger.
The controller simply puts her device on the outstretched hand: the NFC (Near Field Communication) transmitter, which is fitted to new phones, will read the chip, and the ticket will be displayed on the screen.
The controller is not surprised: “This is the second time that I see this. The previous time it hadn’t worked, but the passenger sounded sincere, I believed him. »After several tries, it works: she sees the name of the traveler, his destination, his reservation code, his seat number. Jens Tangefjord, an industry analyst, rides this train almost every day. “I’ve been using the chip for four months,” he explains. Today the controllers are used to it, but very often the passengers around me ask me what just happened. “
Subcutaneous microchips, used around the world for livestock and pets, are starting to spread in humans. In Sweden, they have spread beyond the pioneering community of piercing enthusiasts to reach high-tech “start-ups” and executives of large companies.
A grain of rice in the body
lemonde
