Amal Graafstra, author of RFID Toys, has recently collaborating with Robotics Connection to create a brand new, incredibly powerful RFID reader! Here’s an excerpt from his website.

“Here’s the feature shortlist;

My project was built from a lightly modified inexpensive cigar box. From the outside it looks like a modern though simplistic black box, with a kind of hammered metal sheen.

The inside is lined with genuine leather, complete with a New Testament Bible. The Bible is stuck open to the book of Revelations. Specifically, the primary verses concerning the Mark of the Beast.

Hidden beneath the paper and leather is a bird’s nest of electrical wiring and components. Inside is an Arduino, six AA batteries wired in series, a five volt regulator, a servo motor, and an RFID reader.

This is an art project, you ask? Yep. Read on, there’s a video of it in action after the break.

The project’s internals give the box an interesting characteristic. Using the RFID tag I have implanted in my hand as a wireless ‘key’, I am the only one who can open the box. I place my hand upside down on the  closed box and the built in servo swings the locking mechanism to the unlocked position, and the box lid can be lifted. Otherwise, the arm stays in place, holding the lid down.

This box was more of a proof of concept to myself, but I’m very pleased over all with its aesthetic qualities. I have plans for an even more advanced and professional looking mini storage box which I plan to build over the summer. Below are pictures of the box in different levels of completion. Be sure to leave questions and comments!

-Lace

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Wed, Dec 16th, 4:03 PM

It’s been almost a month and a half now, and there isn’t much left in the way of an incision mark, just a patch of new pink skin and a bump where the needle broke the skin. I’m not having any problems with the implant. There’s no migration at all, and my body seems to have nestled it in place quite well. What I mean is that it used to kind of float in place, whereas now there must be an impression in the flesh beneath it that holds it steady. It is pain free, though I’m still careful with it. On the few occasions when I’ve strained my hands, be it lifting or catching my balance, things of that nature, it may have been little sore afterwards, but to such a small extent that I may just be imagining it.

In six days I’ll be going in to Buckeye Central High School, the school I graduated from, to do one of my biannual ‘fun days’ with some 6th through 9th grade science students there, through collaboration with their teacher. I try to bring in fun toys and technology that they haven’t seen, things to get the gears turning. With my semester break starting tomorrow, I should have time to finish the core exhibit that I’ll be using; an RFID actuated lockbox, designed and constructed by my father and myself. Here’s hoping they enjoy it.

There isn’t much else to say. There were never any infection problems, the tag still works well with over an inch of range using standard equipment. Amal is going to be releasing a new, more powerful reader Q1 of 2010, and I’m very excited to get my hands on it. It promises great functionality and  improved range for small glass tags like this one. I’ve got lots of projects in mind, so we’ll see where this takes me.

–Lace

And now, for my ‘current’ entry.

Mon, Feb 15th, 9:23 PM

No pain. No problems.

The implant is holding up well, I’ve had no problems and I don’t really anticipate any. That ‘bump’ is gone now but the off color pink spot is still there. It’s a small scar that will most likely fade over time.

I’m using the RFID implant in an art project coming up and I’ll be sure to post a detailed write up when it is done. Most of the work on the assignment I’ll be doing at my parents house this weekend, as that’s where all of my tools are. It should be an interesting project, it’s supposed to be explicitly about the artist, and I’m using some rather raw forms of irony to show who I am.

If any one has any questions or wants to talk / rant, feel free. And if you missed any of the other RFID implants, just click on the RFID link to the right of this article.

-Lace

Nov 5th, 2009
10:57 AM

I find it very fitting that the implant was done the day after my birthday, and the day before the 5th of November. (Guy Fawkes night.) My birthday represented the start of my third decade of life, and Guy Fawkes night represents not just one man trying to make a difference in the world via the movie V for Vendetta, but standing up and wanting to make a difference in general. Plus, I love that movie.

Another thing this project has made me notice is that I’m a very impatient person. Not impulsive, I didn’t jump right into this project without thinking. I did tons of research before even considering the possibility. In fact, I first did research on RFID implants nearly 2 years ago. It wasn’t until I revisited the subject that I decided I should start asking questions of the people involved and collect as much data as possible so I could consider the pros and cons. Obviously the pros outweighed the cons.

Here comes the impatient part. Once I had decided that the project was a go, I did everything in my power to make it happen as quickly as possible. Perhaps that could also be described as efficient. Either way, acquiring funds, ordering, and waiting for the tags to be shipped was a very impatient time for me. Instant gratification, my dear mother always said, I always want it now. Well, mother, I want it now because I’m sure of my decision, and see no further point in arguing or waiting. Of course, the world doesn’t really work that way.

Now I find myself impatient for the incision to heal over so I can remove this bandage. Now that’s something I can’t rush, but I’m doing everything I can to speed it along. Eating well, sleeping longer hours (which translates to at least 7 hours a night for a college student), and especially taking it easy on the hand which was injected. Luckily for me, typing doesn’t seem to strain it much.

I’ll be changing the bandage in a few hours, so I’ll take the first post-op pictures then.

Nov 9th, 2009
11:00 PM

A recent visit to my home town saw me introducing and demonstrating the implant for my mother and father for the first time. I was sitting at a table on my laptop when she came up to say goodnight. All I did was say ‘Check out what I did’, and move her finger over the spot where the implant can be clearly felt underneath the skin. After one or two what-is-that’s, her brain focused and she exclaimed ‘Did you put one of those things in your hand’.

After the initial shock that her son had gotten up the nerve to have a RFID tag injected into his hand (and trust me, after everything I’ve put my mother through, that didn’t take long), we showed it to my father, with very similar reactions.

First I showed them the test videos of the rfid being read through my skin via my card reader. After that I showed them the video of the actual procedure. They got a kick out of the whole thing. “At least it’s not a tattoo! You could have that removed no problem,” mother said. I responded with ‘Well, actually, that’s whats coming up next, and proceeded to tell her my upcoming plans which are exempt from this specific journal entry. My father was just as interested, asking questions throughout the video. They noted that I was chewing gum vehemently, for which I could only say “I was quite nervous.” Chomping on that gum was slightly therapeutic.

The incision itself is healing up very well and very fast, I might add. I stopped wearing a bandage on Sunday, and have been wearing one off and on since then, though I no longer think it is absolutely necessary. It’s pain free, shy of the tiniest possibly imagined tenderness that goes with the healing process. I’ve been taking periodical pictures every day or so, and expect within another week it will be mostly healed.

I remember reading someone’s thoughts on how the implant has made them reflect on how the human body, specifically the flesh and skin layers, are assembled and held together. I believe it was by Amal Graafstra. I can very clearly understand what he means, now having one myself.

Though I can not feel the implant in my hand, I can obviously locate it with the fingers of my opposing hand to examine it by touch, and let me just say that the sensation is strange indeed. The skin slips and slides slightly over the implant, and the implant could actually move around at this point between the layers in which it is embedded. I know this because it’s orientation to the incision point has actually changed by about 30 degrees since I had the procedure done nearly a week ago. This odd new way of viewing skin as the organ it is, a kind of loose sheath over the rest of the body, has opened my eyes to how disconnected it is from the flesh underneath. It’s really quite odd. If you ever meet someone with an RFID implant, ask them if you can feel it, it’s strange and worth the ‘enlightenment’. Maybe then you’ll see what I mean.’

There you have it. Expect a final journal entry and possibly some test footage showing off the tags read range, as well as a summary on how I feel about the entire experience. If you’ve got any questions or comments, post them below or drop me an email.

–Lace

Sorry everyone, I neglected my posting duties last week, so here’s a double post to make up for it. Here’s the next part of my journal, as well as the implant video. If you don’t feel like doing all of the reading, skip to the bottom of the full post to watch the video.

Nov 2nd, 2009
11:11 PM

I’m sitting here in my dorm room, eating one of my favorite snacks, a chocolate bar with crunchy peanut butter, my favorite movie running on the screen above my laptop, and listening to the mellow sounds of my roommate talking to his girlfriend on the phone. It’s all just background stuff compared to what’s going on in here, inside my head.

Two RFID glass tags have been ordered. One is the smaller 12 x 2mm tag, which can be swapped out and injected using a kit. The other is a 13 x 3mm tag, which cannot be injected with the kit, but has an extended read range by comparison. After exchanging information with Amal Graafstra, I’ve decided that when the range of the tag is already dropped by the flesh in the hand, every little bit of distance helps.

That’s why chances are I am going to settle on having the larger of the two tags ‘installed’. The incision will probably have to be done with a punch, since a needle injection is out. I’ve done a little research online, but I’m still not entirely sure how a punch works. Viewing a few videos has helped, I think the extra ‘damage’ from the procedure is worth the extended read range.

I just pulled out a digital caliper I keep on hand for precise measurements when doing 3D modeling and compared tag sizes. The 3 x 13 isn’t really that much larger, though the thought of punching that size of a hole in my flesh is a little… disconcerting to me. I’ve never been a fan of needles or anything medical like that. Don’t get me wrong, I can have my knee torn wide open climbing a tree, crimson dripping down my leg and discoloring my socks, and I’ve never felt better, never felt more alive. But the last time I had a needle put in me, I was 14. I panicked, and they had to hold me down. Luckily, this time it’s voluntary.

Nov 4th, 2009
5:47 PM

The tags arrived today. Shipping cost as much as the tags themselves, which kind of irks me. I bought both tags and tested them using a Basic Stamp 2 SX and a RFID reader module from Parallax. The device simply beeps twice when it recognizes a working RFID tag, and both passed the test no problem.

An hour or so after I received the tags I drove the mile or so to the shop where the procedure is going to be done and showed Dave the tags. He’d been doing a bit of research himself and seemed just as interested as before, if not more. After a short chat, we decided that we would just go ahead and do the procedure tonight, as he thought he would have time and I saw no real reason to wait. (In my mind, I saw no reason not to get it over with. I did mention I’m not fond of needles, didn’t I?)

The tags are being run through the autoclave now, and in about an hour I’ll be on my way back to the shop to have it done. I’m having the 3 X 13mm tag injected into the webbed flesh in my hand as planned. Dave is planning on using a 10 gauge needle, assuming it fits, I’ll find out when I get there. I’ll be recording it with at least the laptop camera, if not a handheld camera as well.

Nov 4th, 2009
8:01 PM

It is done!

When I got to the shop “Liquid Swordz” here in Ypsilanti, Michigan, the autoclave had another 15 minutes to go before the cycle was complete. If you’ve never seen or heard of an autoclave, it’s a machine that uses heat and pressure to sterilize things like piercings or surgical equipment, or in this case, glass RFID tags.

The manufacturers of the tag warn that they can handle the heat or pressure of an autoclave (not to mention the store I bought them from says they are not to be used as implants). But Amal Graafsta has tested some standard tags identical to mine, and they seemed to hold up fine.

Such was the case this time. While waiting, I signed a typical medical form clearing Liquid Swordz of liablity and whatnot. I chatted with a few of the guys at the main desk, answered some question about the technology, including how easy it could theoretically be to spoof the tag. I even chatted about it with a man just behind the desk who looked to be having some kind of large tattoo done on his arm or side.

After the tags were finished Dave led me back to a secluded room where I can assume other piercing work is done. He started preparing the needles and other equipment on a clean tray, his hands covered by sterile black plastic gloves. We chatted, I commented on the unusual (yet cool) paintings that were in the small room. He placed the tags on the metal tray. They were enclosed in clear plastic bags that kept them clean after removal from the autoclave.

We agreed to try them out on the test device. He took each bag and held it near the antenna, and at the appropriate distance, each set off two deep beeps from the attached speaker. Success!

As we chatted about what was going to take place and found a good place to set down the laptop and start recording, two more men came in, (Carl and Alex). One of the them, Alex, the tattoo artist, agreed to hold the laptop for a slightly better angle, even though he wouldn’t be able to see the screen while recording. Carl, was there to help with the procedure.

It would go like this: Dave would make an incision with an 8 gauge needle. Yes. and EIGHT gauge needle. I’m excited to see my expression on seeing the needle in the video. It was rather larger than I have ever been subjected to before. After the incision was made Dave would remove the needle and Carl would apply pressure to the spot with a cotton swab to hold back the blood flow while Dave retrieved the tag. Dave would then use a small device to push the tag into the incision and seat it inside. After that it was just a matter of clean up and slapping on a bandaid.

It went about that smoothly. I sat down on a table similar to the kind you would find in a room at a medical clinic, and held up my arm. We chatted some more as Dave applied some kind of iodine based cleanser to my hand to sterilize it. “So what’s your real story,” one of the guys asked. “You FBI or something?”

“Well…” I paused for a moment. “I can’t tell you that.” Laughter ensued. I was told this was ‘pretty cool’, what I was doing. I agreed.

Once sterilized, Dave started feeling the skin, deciding on the best area to make the incision, and where the tag should sit. He marked a few places on my hand while I looked on, my mind numbing slightly with the realization this was about to happen, I was about to have a huge needle shoved into my hand. I nodded when asked a question, probably something aside the lines of “Are you ready”.

“Just don’t mind me if I decide not to watch.”

I looked to my right and felt the others maneuver around into better position. I felt a slight pinch near the point where the incision was to be, which then escalated. I don’t know if I winced, but I’m sure I gritted my teeth a bit, and I know I was squeezing the table with my right hand. I decided I was not going to look. It would just freak me out more.

The pain dimmed and I starting thinking about how there probably aren’t many nerves inside the hand, just on the outside near the skin, which explains why the conversations I had had with other online was true. There really wasn’t that much pain involved after the incision point. I felt him finish pushing and start pulling it out, my nerves registering the slight tugging. I could see them maneuvering again in my periferal vision, places the cotton swab. I think Dave may have ended up doing it himself.

They jostled around again for a moment, and I heard words hinting towards the end of the procedure. The next part went quickly. Wondering if it was over, I chanced a look. I saw red, and a fleshy hole, and looked away again. Needless to say, that didn’t help. Moments later it was over, and I had a bandage on my hand.

Dave announced the end of the procedure, and Carl exclaimed “There you go, man, you are bionic!” He followed up with “You alright? Looking a little pale,”. I nodded and requested some water when asked if I needed anything. The laptop was set down and I was able to lie back on the table. After some conversation on how resiliant and amazing the body is, to be able to heal up from things like that, I drank some water, had some ‘M N M’s, and soon felt much more stable, enough so to be on my feet again.

With my wallet ten dollars lighter for the supplies used, I was shaking hands and promising updates mere minute later, then walking out the door. It was a very pleasant experience, everyone there was very nice, knowledgeable, and most importantly, clean and professional. If you are ever in the Ypsi area, check out Liquid Swordz. They know their stuff.

The implant is there, the operation was a success, and post testing confirms that the tag is functioning properly. I’m now a ‘bionic man’.

Later that evening:

One of the first things I did on returning home after the procedure was get the test platform out and run the implanted tag by the antenna a few more times. Too cool.

The next thing I did was to start writing the previous entry. I was typing normally with my right hand, and tapping keys with only my pointer finger with my left hand. I was being careful and moving it gingerly. It still hurt, not sore, but actually raw nerve pain. I downed some tylonol, and for the first time in my life, it actually worked completely, I found myself pain free, which explains how I was able to write all of this so quickly. The bandage has the puncture site covered and is keeping it clean. I’ll have to pick up some waterproof bandages tomorrow. I can see where a small blot of blood discolored the white part of the bandaged, but other than that, there has been no excessive bleeding. I was told both by Dave and by other contacts to expect some bruising, which is understandable. I’m feeling pretty good right now, we’ll see if that changes in the morning.

For updates and alerts on new posts, be sure to click the subscribe button at the top of the page! Thanks!

–Lace

Oct 27th, 2009
6:13 PM

After some initial introductory emails to a local Tattoo/Body Mod shop here in Ypsilanti, Michigan, (Liquid Swordz) I took a field trip there to meet the man that does all of their piercing work, Dave. He was in the back of the tidy shop, and upon asking if I could speak with him, one of the other men at the counter told me he would be right out and we could talk to my hearts content. Dave seems like a nice guy, albeit were one to run into him on the street they might not think so at first glance, if raised in a small rural town such as myself.

Dave has a remarkable look about him. His ears have been pierced and stretched so that tremendously large metal hoops can be put inside of them, and multiple rings were then connected through said gaping holes. I noted that his tongue has been split down the middle, though the extent of which I do not know. He has multiple facial piercings and a slightly gruff look about him, but nothing too terrifying.

Upon speaking with him, I introduced myself as Lace Williamson, the man who had sent him an email regarding implants. His eyes lit up and he seemed to lean forward against the counter, readying himself for an interesting conversation. He asked what exactly it was that this device would do.

“It’s similar to the systems you may have seen on educational and business buildings. A small keyfob is placed near a sensor, not touching, just nearby, and then the computer it’s connected to checks it and says ‘Hey, there’s an ID that is allowed!’, and unlocks the door.”

Our conversation covered uses of such devices, the size and build of the tag, as well as how it would be injected. In an earlier email I mentioned a twelve gauge needle could be used, and upon speaking with him clarified that I would be purchasing the one time use kit to do the injection.

“I would do it myself, but I’m not that fond of needles.” I said. At this, one of the other men at the counter smiled and laughed quietly to himself. I bet they hear things like that all the time.
We also talked about where the injection should be. Dave mentioned that he would be more comfortable doing it in the arm due to the hand being prone to not healing as well, but eventually agreed to my preference of the ‘webbed’ section between the pointer finger and thumb.

The next big point was sterilization. I told him I had done some research and they could be autoclaved (is that even a word), though not according to the manufacturers. Amal Graafsta (my inspiration for this ‘mod’ and writer of the book ‘RFID Toys’) has run several standard chips through an autoclave without a problem, so that is what we will try. I told him I would bring a reader to ensure that the tags still worked afterward. I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed on this one. I would prefer to just soak them in antiseptic, but he said that they aren’t truly clean, that way.

At one point in the conversation cost came up just as a side comment, and he said he wouldn’t expect to charge me more than ten dollars for the injection. Compared to the problems and cost issues I would have (being a University student) with having the same thing done by a plastic surgeon, I was quite pleased to hear it. *Note. If I didn’t trust that they could do this job well, I would not hesitate to turn them down. I would never risk having someone do a botched up job just because it is cheaper.* He even agreed to allow me to record the procedure, for the website. We think alike, because he asked if I would credit the store on the site while I was at it, and I had already decided to, assuming the job was well done.

After around ten minutes of speaking we agreed that when my next shipment of tags came in I would give them a call and make an appointment to have it done. My guesstimate; middle of November. In the meantime, I’m starting to design a lockbox that uses RFID as the authentication system to toggle a locking mechanism. It will be made out of oak or walnut, and look completely old fashioned, save for a hidden power jack somewhere that can charge the internal batteries if they run low.

That wraps up this post. If you’ve missed any of the earlier posts, you can get to them here. Stay tuned. There’s more to come!

–Lace

• Supermarkets, chain stores, and even libraries use RFID tags in almost all of the items they deal with, to act as a theft deterrent. If the cashier or librarian hasn’t ‘turned off’ the tag, the alarms go off as you leave the building. The tags can take many shapes. Some tags are designed for use in books. These are extremely thin with a sticky backing for adhering to the inside of the cover, like a price tag. Others, are designed for the inside of boxes or disc cases, more compact with a similar sticky backing. Tags like this are called passive. They have no power source built in. Instead, they use the signal coming from the ‘receiver’ to power up and send an ‘on’ or ‘off’ signal. If ‘on’ then the alarms go off. If ‘off’ then the item has been purchased or checked out, and was deactivated at the counter.
a
• Subway systems in large cities around the world use special ‘credit card’ style tags that help speed up payment delivery. At the station, just walk towards the gate and skim the card with the embedded tag along the surface of a special antenna on the turnstile and you are admitted through, eventually leading to your account automatically being billed. Best of all, if you need to add money to your account, it’s as simple as putting a 20 at the ticket machine and skimming your card over it. It automatically adds twenty dollars to your credit, and you are good to go.
a
• On some toll roads cars can be equipped with a higher power version of RFID tags that actively transmit to a receiver that hangs above the road. Then, instead of having to stop and pay at a toll booth, as the car drives by the unique ID is noted and the proper amount billed from the owners account, ensuring maximum efficiency.

a
• Use of tags has even begun in animals and in some cases, humans, with much controversy. In their most current widespread form, these small glass ampoules are injected using sterile equipment into pigs in farms. Each tag has a unique identification code that the farmer can read with a special hand held scanner. That code can be linked to an external database of all kinds of information, such as the animal’s age, purchase price, weight measurements, etc.
a

• The VeriChip Corporation has even in the past few years started issuing implants for people. The logic behind this move is that when injured a person can be rushed to a hospital, scanned in the standard  implantation site (an area of the arm), and their family and medical history, records, and other pertinent information is then located and instantly accessible on a computer network using the ID. The only information stored on the tag is an ID. It’s easy to see why such technology could theoretically save lives.
a

So. I went the VeriChip way, right? No, not quite.

I’m a techie to the core, a hardware hacker. I love taking things apart, seeing how they work, putting them back together and making something superior out of what would seem like junk to other people. It’s how I live my life, it’s ‘what I do’.

VeriChip would tell me that that is a major no-go. Their RFID tags use encryption and a hundred other ins and outs specific to their own technology. I can’t do anything with that. I don’t have the time, money, or know how to get my hands on one of their readers and reverse engineer it so I can use that simple little unique ID in my own projects.

So with some help and advice from some very knowledgeable people, I did it myself.

Part 3 will have the first journal entry. If anyone has any comments or questions feel free to leave them below, I will be happy respond to them. If you missed any of the earlier journal entries, you can find them here.

–Lace

Good. Now I have your attention. Stick with me, this is going to be interesting. Not long ago I wrote an article that gave the readers some insight into the inner workings of my mind, (yes, I know I’m odd to say the least). Now I’ll give them another insight, this one into my body as well.

The referenced article consisted of a conversation I had with myself. It was a conversation all about RFID technology and the effects it has had on everyday life. While the recollection was comical and lighthearted, the subject of RFID is a specific technology that I have been interested in for years now, and one which I take very seriously, both for its capabilities and its downfalls.

RFID has been used to track goods in warehouses, to bill drivers on large toll roads, as a form of security in locales such as stores, and even to connect information stored in a database to living things. Think back to that first line. I have an implant.

On November 4th, 2009, I had a very small RFID tag injected into the fleshy area of my hand between the base joints of my thumb and forefinger. The tag, a glass ampoule, is realistically twice the size of a grain of rice. The tag, though not explicitly meant for implantation, has been used in such a way on other occasions, and the supplies and tools to do such an implantation are readily available, if you know who to talk to.

Some of you may be asking a relatively forceful and very relevant question; “Why would you do that to yourself!?”

My response would be to say ‘Well, why do you ask?’

From here on out, at least once a week, I will be posting my personal text and photo journal , written before and after the implantation, with my take on the technology and procedure as well as what I intend to accomplish by having a small glass chip embedded in my skin. I’ll also address any questions and comments left on each ‘episode’ of the journal that I believe is informative, brings up a good point, or is just all around relevant. Be sure to subscribe if you want email notifications when each new article becomes available. Looking forward to talking with everyone.

To get to the other RFID posts, just click here. Cheers!

–Lace