Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Converging And Coexisting Systems Towards Smart Surveillance, Katina Michael, Mg Michael

Professor Katina Michael

Tracking and monitoring people as they operate within their personal networks benefits service providers and their constituents but involves hidden risks and costs.

Automatic identification technologies, CCTV cameras, pervasive and mobile networks, wearable computing, location-based services and social networks have traditionally served distinct purposes. However, we have observed patterns of integration, convergence and coexistence among all these innovations within the information and communication technology industry.1For example, ‘location-based social networking’ can draw on a smart phone's capacity to identify a user uniquely, locate him within 1–2m and share this information across his social network in real time. The resulting ability to …

The Social Implications Of Humancentric Chip Implants: A Scenario - ‘Thy Chipdom Come, Thy Will Be Done’, Rodney Ip, Katina Michael, M G. Michael

Professor Katina Michael

Radio frequency identification (RFID) chip implants for humans are no longer the tales of science fiction. Already preliminary findings have shown that the number of people willing to get chipped has increased since the technology’s commercial arrival in 2002, despite the fact that adoption rates have been very low. This investigation presents three case studies of the main users/ innovators of humancentric chip implants. The first case is of a British researcher in an academic institution who has conducted several implant experiments; the second case, is of a hobbyist and entrepreneur who has focused on the use of RFID implants …

Lend Me Your Arms: The Use And Implications Of Humancentric Rfid, Amelia Masters, Katina Michael

Professor Katina Michael

Recent developments in the area of RFID have seen the technology expand from its role in industrial and animal tagging applications, to being implantable in humans. With a gap in literature identified between current technological development and future humancentric possibility, little has been previously known about the nature of contemporary humancentric applications. By employing usability context analyses in control, convenience and care-related application areas, we begin to piece together a cohesive view of the current development state of humancentric RFID, as detached from predictive conjecture. This is supplemented by an understanding of the market-based, social and ethical concerns which plague …

Towards Chipification: The Multifunctional Body Art Of The Net Generation, Katina Michael, M G. Michael

Professor Katina Michael

This paper considers the trajectory of the microchip within the context of converging disciplines to predict the realm of likely possibilities in the shortterm future of the technology. After presenting the evolutionary development from first generation to fourth generation wearable computing, a case study on medical breakthroughs using implantable devices is presented. The findings of the paper suggest that before too long, implantable devices will become commonplace for everyday humancentric applications. The paradigm shift is exemplified in the use of microchips, from their original purpose in identifying humans and objects to its ultimate trajectory with multifunctional capabilities buried within the …