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15 Important Tech Concepts In 2006

Posted by Zonk on from the learn-them-now-save-time dept.

MBoy wrote to mention a Popular Mechanics story discussing 15 technology concepts that are likely to be important in the coming year. From the article: "Body Area Network (BAN) - Like everything else, implantable medical devices are going wireless. A new in-body antenna chip from Zarlink Semiconductor is in preproduction, and should appear in pacemakers and hearing implants this year. By transmitting data to and receiving instructions from nearby base stations, BAN chips can reprogram your heartbeat at your doctor's office or make a diagnosis from a bedside wireless monitor at home." I prefer Personal Area Network (PAN), myself.

2 of 164 comments (clear)

  1. Heartbeat by bmgoau · · Score: 0, Redundant

    What happens when a deprived person brute-forces your wireless pace-maker and sets it to extreme mode?

    Of course the chances of this are slim to none and the benifits of these emerging technologies peobly outweight the risks, as long as adequate debugging measures are taken during the process of writing their firmware.

    I always imagined a time in the near future, where the implimentation of technology into the human body would happen slowly, and thus allow for adaption. When someone screams out 2006 "Year of the Cyborb" one needs to remeber that hearing aids, and pace makers have been around for a very long time. Of course, now it is only a matter of time before electronic prehipherals become something of a "i do/i dont" in society.

  2. Are you shitting me?! by necro2607 · · Score: 0, Redundant

    "By transmitting data to and receiving instructions from nearby base stations, BAN chips can reprogram your heartbeat at your doctor's office"...

    Umm.. so.. this straight up gives you the ability to kill someone using home-made tech. How long until someone steals the "doctor-only" equipment, reverse engineers it, and suddenly schematics/code are written up? I can just imagine the possibilities, and they are NOT worth the convenience.

    Nice powerful transmitter to set all in-range pacemakers to 2 beats per minute... grab tickets to the Superbowl... now maybe our wirelessly-configured pacemaker isn't so convenient. The most disturbing thing is, it's obvious you could transmit these lethal configuration signals completely undetected. You could commit murder to no end in that manner and NEVER be detected, or even suspected.

    Fucking unbelievable.