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Tim Cannon

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Tim Cannon
Born (1979-09-11) September 11, 1979 (age 45)
Camden, Ohio, United States
OccupationCIO of Grindhouse Wetware
Known forBiohacking

Tim Cannon is an American software developer, entrepreneur, and biohacker based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is best known as Chief Information Officer of Grindhouse Wetware, a biotechnology startup company that creates technology to augment human capabilities. Grindhouse was co-founded by Cannon and Shawn Sarver in 2012. Cannon himself has had a variety of body modification implants, and has been referred to in the media as a cyborg.[1][2][3]

Cannon has spoken at conferences around the world on the topics of human enhancement, futurism, and citizen science, including at TEDx Rosslyn,[4] FITUR,[5] the University of Maryland,[6] the World Business Dialogue,[7] the Medical Entrepreneur Startup Hospital,[8] and others. He has been published in Wired[9] and featured in television shows such as National Geographic Channel's "The Big Picture with Kal Penn".[10] Cannon has been featured on podcasts including Ryan O'Shea's "Future Grind" [11] and Roderick Russell's "Remarkably Human".[12]

Implants

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Cannon has had a variety of body modification implants, including a radio-frequency identification (RFID) tag in his hand and magnetic implants in a finger, wrist, and tragus,[13] causing him to be labelled a cyborg by media outlets including Business Insider,[14] Newsweek,[15] The Awl,[16] and others. Because of legal and ethical restrictions on the types of surgery that can be done on humans, most of these modifications cannot be done by doctors or anesthetists. Instead they are done by body modification experts or on a "DIY" basis.[16]

In May 2012, inspired by Lepht Anonym, Cannon had finger magnets implanted to give him an "extra sense", the ability to feel electromagnetism.[17][18]

In October 2013, Cannon became the first person to be implanted with the Grindhouse-designed biometric sensor known as Circadia, a procedure which was performed by body modification artist Steve Haworth in Essen, Germany.[19][14][20] The device, approximately the size of a deck of playing cards, automatically sent Cannon's temperature to his phone, was powered wirelessly through inductive charging, and mimicked bioluminescence with subdermal LEDs.[21][22] After a few months as an initial proof-of-concept test, a series of panic attacks led to the device's removal.[23] Cannon is currently working to design an improved, consumer-friendly version of his Circadia implant that measures additional biometrics such as blood glucose, blood oxygen, blood pressure, and heart rate data.[24]

In November 2015, Tim had a prototype of Grindhouse's Northstar device implanted into his right forearm during a procedure at the “Cyborg Fair” in Düsseldorf, Germany.[25] A little larger than a coin, Northstar contained five LED lights, creating a bioluminescent effect when touched with a magnet (such as the ones implanted in Cannon's fingertips.)[26] Its purpose is solely aesthetic.[27] Capable of blinking around 10,000 times before the battery runs down, the device has been presented as a way to "light" tattoos.[26]

References

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  1. ^ Platoni, Kara (December 8, 2015). We Have the Technology: How Biohackers, Foodies, Physicians, and Scientists Are Transforming Human Perception, One Sense at a Time. Basic Books. pp. 7, 237–254. ISBN 978-0465089970. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
  2. ^ Borkhataria, Cécile; Low, Christine; Berger, Katya (June 27, 2017). "Becoming Cyborg A new film explores the dawning age of technologically augmented humanity". Scientific American. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
  3. ^ Pickup, Oliver (June 15, 2017). "Humans of the near future". Raconteur. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
  4. ^ "TEDx Conference Coming to Rosslyn". Arlnow.com. 30 May 2013. Retrieved 2015-05-21.
  5. ^ Heraldo de Aragón (28 January 2015). "Tim Cannon, el biohacker que predica la fusión del hombre y la máquina". Heraldo.es. Retrieved 2015-05-21.
  6. ^ Tim Cannon, "Potential Benefits of Sensory Augmentation" @ The University of Maryland. YouTube. 4 May 2013.
  7. ^ "History". world-business-dialogue.com. Retrieved 2015-07-15.
  8. ^ ""Be disruptive!": Interview with Tim Cannon". mesh-camp.com. Retrieved 2015-10-23.
  9. ^ "Tim Cannon über die Optimierung des eigenen Körpers und die Diskriminierung ihrer Verweigerer". Wired.de. 10 October 2014. Retrieved 2015-05-21.
  10. ^ "The Big Picture with Kal Penn Body City". National Geographic Channel. Archived from the original on April 17, 2015.
  11. ^ "Ep. 1 – Tim Cannon on Biohacking and Transhumanism". futuregrind.org. Retrieved 2015-10-23.
  12. ^ Russell, Roderick (30 September 2014). "Cyborg Next Door : Biohacking, Digital Implants & the Merging of Man & Machine". remarkablyhuman.com. Retrieved 2015-10-23.
  13. ^ Xavier (22 October 2016). "Biohacking, the Body Modification that Turns You into a Cyborg". TattooDo. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
  14. ^ a b "Cyborg People Who Implanted Tech - Business Insider". Businessinsider.com. Retrieved 2015-04-09.
  15. ^ Carroll, Michael (July 31, 2014). "Part Human, Part Machine, Cyborgs Are Becoming A Reality". Newsweek.com. Retrieved 2015-05-21.
  16. ^ a b Ferguson, Cat (Dec 12, 2013). "The Future Of Biohacking In The Age Of Patent Trolls". Theawl.com. Retrieved 2015-05-21.
  17. ^ "Magnet-implanting DIY biohackers pave the way for mainstream adoption (Wired UK)". Wired UK. wired.co.uk. Retrieved 2015-04-09.
  18. ^ Czuba, Killian (2017). "Fast Forward". Distillations. 2 (4): 44–45. Retrieved 24 March 2018.
  19. ^ Lallanilla, Marc (November 1, 2013). "'Biohacker' Implants Chip in Arm". Live Science. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
  20. ^ "The brave new world of biohacking | Al Jazeera America". America.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 2015-04-09.
  21. ^ "Under Your Skin: Wearables Meet DIY Body Mods - Make: | Make". Makezine.com. Archived from the original on 2015-04-14. Retrieved 2015-04-09.
  22. ^ "'Biohacker' Implants Chip in Arm". LiveScience.com. November 2013. Retrieved 2015-05-21.
  23. ^ Wainwright, Oliver (14 August 2015). "Body-hackers: the people who turn themselves into cyborgs". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
  24. ^ "Meet the grinders: The humans using tech to live forever". Wareable.com. 24 March 2015. Retrieved 2015-04-09.
  25. ^ "Biohackers are Implanting LED Lights Under their Skin". Motherboard. 9 November 2015. Retrieved 2016-03-29.
  26. ^ a b Guler, Sibel Deren; Gannon, Madeline; Sicchio, Kate (2016). Crafting Wearables: Blending Technology with Fashion. Apress. p. 151. ISBN 9781484218075. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
  27. ^ Melendez, Steven (2016). "I've got you under my skin". FastCompany. Retrieved 2016-08-17.