One self-professed nerd has gotten a new biohack: she had the RFID chip from the keycard of her Tesla Model 3 implanted into her arm. She will soon be able to unlock and start her car with just her arm. Welcome to the future!
However, she first has to wait for the swelling to go down. Amie Dansby, who goes by Amie DD online, tells The Verge that, right now, the area is still swollen, which means the range is very small: her arm has to be very close to the console for the chip to work. Still, she’s read that this tends to happen with this kind of implants.
In two of her most recent YouTube videos, Amie explains her decision to get the implant, as well as the process she went through. Amie works as a software engineer and programmer, and calls herself a nerd, “passionate technologist” and “maker of things.” This Tesla biohack is right up her alley.
At the time she came up with the idea, back when she’d just pre-ordered the Tesla Model 3, Amie already had an RFID chip in her hand. She says she uses that one for basic access, for things like unlocking the door to her home and opening any browser to her home page.
Her first thought was that she could upload the software off the Tesla keycard onto that implant, but she soon found out that it was impossible. “So it's pretty secure. Good job, Tesla,” she says. “So I'm just going to take the chip that I have in my valet card and encapsulate it, and implant that one in my hand.”
She dissolved the keycard with acetone and removed the chip, which was then placed in a biopolymer, the kind also used in chips for pets. She had it injected into her arm through a hallow needle, at a salon for body modifications. Amie says her project was a yearlong one, including attempts to load the software onto the RFID she already had implanted, talks with doctors and looking for the right people to put the implant in safely.
As her story went viral this week, Amie has been tweeting about how she considers herself a pioneer and how the world should be more open to biohacks of this type. She compares hers to breast implants or Botox, or Lasik laser surgeries and Insulin, noting that everyone is a “body hacker in some way.”
Also, if you’re wondering, her Model 3 is named Dread Pirate Roberts. “All my electronics are named after ships, I figured I need to name my car after the captain of a ship,” Amie says.
*Warning
Please be advised that the footage below contains bloody imagery that may cause some upset.
Yes it works!! My video wizard is coming over to record this week!
As you wish. Filtering through some of the funny questions I got about my Tesla hack. One of them was “What did you name your car?” Dread Pirate Roberts. All my electronics are named after ships, I figured I need to name my car after the captain of a ship .. pic.twitter.com/ZCWnbQhZRE
Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends. Full profile
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