Sweden: Implanting chips into employees' hands to use smart offices

A high-tech office block called Epicenter has applied technology to the use of office utilities, which is to implant chips into the hands of employees.

It is evident that technology is gradually changing many economic sectors and the media is certainly not the only one. In office operations alone, compared to before, it is easy to see many changes thanks to the presence of automation technology.

The chip is about the size of a pencil tip and uses NFC technology.

And in Sweden, a high-tech office block called Epicenter has gone one step further in applying technology to office amenities: implanting chips into the hands of employees.

Activating a magnetic door with a wave of the hand – a scene straight out of a sci-fi movie – is a daily occurrence at the Epicenter. The chip-picking technology was first introduced at the office complex in early 2015, and so far 150 employees here can unlock doors, use printers, and buy drinks with their body chips.

“It’s so convenient,” says Patrick Mesterton, CEO of Epicenter. “You’ll never have to carry keys, badges, or anything else.”

The chip is about the size of a pencil tip and uses NFC, the same technology used in mobile payments. Once activated, data can be transmitted from the chip to devices via electromagnetic waves.

An Epicenter employee has a chip implanted in his hand. Photo from the internet.

"I am sure that in the future this will be the way for humans to connect with machines. Shopping and payment activities can also be done entirely with this chip," said Jowan Osterlund, a technology developer.

Because of its personal information storage properties, this invention also raises many concerns about security and personal privacy.

Meanwhile, biologist Ben Libberton said: "A lot of information can be collected from this chip: your health status, or how many hours you work a day. From there, the problem arises: who can this information fall into the hands of, and how will it be used?".

Still, for office workers at Epicenter, it’s a new invention worth experiencing. Demand is so great that office leaders regularly hold “chip-embedding parties” to provide the service for free to all 2,000 employees.

According to VTV