Software translations will play a key role in mapping out our future with technology. Most of us have given up hope that time machines will ever exist but that doesn’t mean we can’t get a glimpse of the future today. Just go to Sweden, where you’ll see vein-scanning terminals in shops and restaurants, used to make payments with just a swipe of the hand. Customers in Japan have been using their fingerprints to withdraw cash from ATMs since 2012.
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Scientists have also looked into enhancing our body by implanting Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chips under your skin. This tiny device has already found its way into cell phones, credit cards, and key fobs. It’s essentially a unique ID that can be used to track anything: retail merchandise, vehicles, pets, students, and, of course, you—via GPS and cell tower triangulation.
To some degree, the future is already here. There are a small but growing number of people who unlock doors, start cars and log into computers with a mere gesture. One such individual is entrepreneur Amal Graafstra. The founder of a Seattle-based biohacking company called Dangerous Things is a double implantee; he has a microchip in each hand, essentially making him a life-size, walking swipe card.
Many futurists and creative thinkers believe it’s only a matter of time before everyone will want to be chipped. Just consider some of the benefits: You won’t have to worry about losing your keys, credit cards or other forms of identification. You could carry your entire medical history with you wherever you go. Because such technology promotes a cashless society, muggings would be a thing of the past. The implants could be used to locate missing persons in war zones or in case of natural disaster. The list of potential uses is only limited by the imagination.
But like any other technological advancement, human-imbedded microchips have their downsides. They have the potential to threaten our privacy in unprecedented ways and open the door for government and corporate abuse. But whether you support the use of RFID chips in humans or not, they likely won’t be implemented overnight. The present generation may reject it, but in a couple of decades, the young generation may rush to be chipped as quickly as we snatch up the latest gadgets.
If this glimpse of the future gives you the jitters, then not having a time machine might not be such a bad thing; as the old adage says, we should take things “one day at a time” and not let the seemingly limitless possibilities of technology overwhelm us all at once.
This article was published in the 2014 edition of HQ magazine, a publication of CSOFT International. If you’re interested in learning more about CSOFT’s globalization and localization solutions, visit our Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn pages or you can visit our webpage!
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