Professor Cyborg
Reuters

12:30pm  25.Aug.98.PDT


READING, England -- Professor Kevin Warwick claimed Tuesday to be the first person in the world to have a computer chip surgically implanted into his body.

Warwick told a press conference that a glass capsule containing an electromagnetic coil and a silicon chip, less than an inch long and bit wider than a piece of cardboard, was inserted into his arm Monday.

"It is a research experiment," said Warwick, head of the Cybernetics Department at the University of Reading. "I don't know how long we will leave the implant in, but it's looking at what's possible now in terms of communicating between a computer and myself."

Warwick demonstrated the chip in action by walking through the front door of his department. "Good morning, Professor Warwick. You have five new emails," said a computerized voice activated by the inserted chip.

The human as computer has many applications, both negative and positive, Warwick said.

"Possibilities could be that anyone who wanted access to a gun could do so only if they had one of these implants," Warwick said. "Then, if they actually try and enter a school or building that doesn't want them in there, the school computer would sound alarms and warn people inside or even prevent them having access."

The same could be true at work, where employees could be tracked in and out of the building to see when they are there. But not all capabilities may be desired, noted Warwick. "Do we want to hand over control to machinery or have buildings telling us what we can do or can't do?"

On the positive side, Warwick said, "I'm really looking at what's technically possible. I'm excited about the future prospects, particularly the human body communicating and interacting with a computer. There are a lot of exciting possibilities."

Warwick said the chip was implanted by his own doctor, who advised him to have it removed within 10 days. There was a danger of infection, although Warwick was taking antibiotics.

Reading University said in a statement that this was the first chip to be surgically inserted into a human.

"It is therefore not known what effects it will have, how well it will operate and how robust it will be," officials said in a statement. "Professor Warwick is therefore taking an enormous risk -- for the transponder to leak or shatter within his body could be catastrophic."

Warwick shrugged off the dangers.

"It doesn't hurt any. I took some Nurofen [analgesic] just before the operation. It feels uncomfortable; it feels as though there's something in my arm, but it doesn't feel unpleasant."

"Cybernetics is all about humans and technology interacting," he said. "For a professor of cybernetics to become a true cyborg -- part man, part machine -- is therefore rather appropriate."