PITTSBURGH — In the basement of a suburban two-story house on a quiet road just outside Pittsburgh, six mostly self-taught scientists tinker with an assortment of computer parts and electric equipment. They plan one day on becoming cyborgs — a future that may be closer than you think.
Today, at an international body-modification conference in Essen, Germany, Grindhouse will make history as the first in the DIY-science community — i.e., not affiliated with any academic institution or corporation — to develop and implant an interactive electronic device in a human being. The implantable biosensor is called Circadia and is slightly smaller than a credit card but thicker than the average paperback. Though it will cause the skin to bulge slightly, it won't obstruct any vital functions or impact skeletal function. It is designed to sit between the skin and muscles in the forearm, where it will track and aggregate weeks of data on the person's body temperature. Once synced to a smartphone, it will transmit that data to it via Bluetooth. To add to the coolness factor, the device has three red LEDs that glow through the skin that may be turned on and off remotely with the user's phone.
'Where's my jet pack?'
This may all sound like the stuff of futuristic fantasy. However, thanks to new technology and cheaper hardware as well as open-source information, it's simply the most sophisticated example in a galaxy of home-brewed science efforts that make up a growing international movement called biohacking. Biohackers conduct science experiments and perform gene sequencing in improvised labs to increase science literacy and build devices that alter the senses or maximize human health.
Setting a precedent
As a teenager, Cannon considered himself part of the punk-rock movement; he played in a band and had "a big mohawk and pincushion face," he says, referring to his numerous piercings. Those days may be over, but he knows Grindhouse's customer. "The people we tend to serve are the kind of people with split tongues and tattoos on their face, which society traditionally deems as freaky."
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