STOCKHOLM, Sweden (MEREDITH/AP) – It may not look like it, but many of the workers here at Stockholm's ultra-trendy 'Epicenter' co-working space are cyborgs. That's to say they have tiny microchips embedded in their hands. They help with simple daily tasks like opening locked doors or operating office printers.
Epicenter, which describes itself as a digital innovation house, began offering free microchip implants to its members back in January 2015. Now, around 150 have them.
That includes co-founder and CEO Patrick Mesterton, who's able to open many of Epicenter's locked doors with just a quick wave of his left hand.
"So, the biggest benefit I think is convenience, it basically simplifies your life," he says.
"That's why I think people find it interesting because, you don't have to have keys, you don't have to use tags or anything else for using printers.
"You can do airline fares with it, you can also go to your local gym etc. So it basically replaces a lot of things you have other communication devices, whether it be credit cards, or keys, or things like that."
The central Stockholm workplace is home to over 100 companies and about 2,000 workers.
They claim to be the first place in Sweden to use implants on a large-scale.
The small implants use NFC (Near Field Communication) technology, the same tech used in contactless credit cards or mobile payments.
When activated by a reader over a few centimeters, a small amount of data can flow between the two devices via electromagnetic waves.
The implants are "passive" devices, meaning they contain information that other devices can read, but can't read information themselves.
Mesterton says one employee created an automated smoothie machine that allowed users to purchase the drinks using their chips.
"Of course, putting things into your body is quite a big step to do and it was even for me at first, thinking like; 'Why would I do this?' But then, on the other hand, I mean, people have been implanting things into their body like pacemakers and stuff to control your heart," says Mesterton.
"That's a way, way more serious thing than having a small chip than can actually communicate with devices."
Epicenter chief experience officer Fredric Kaijser had a chip implanted into his right hand in September last year.
The 47-year-old says now at weekends he wonders where his car keys have gone because he rarely uses keys at all.
"It's a dinner discussion, people ask me; 'Are you chipped?' and I say; 'Yes, why not?' And they all get excited about privacy issues and what that means and so forth," says Kaijser.
"And for me it's just a matter of I like to try new things and just see it as more of an enabler and what that would bring into the future."
But experts warn there are security and privacy issues to consider.
Ben Libberton, a microbiologist at Stockholm's Karolinska Institute, says hackers could conceivably gain huge swathes of information from embedded microchips - from a person's whereabouts to how frequently they go to the toilet.
"The data that you could possibly get from a chip that is embedded in your body is a lot different from the data that you can get from a smartphone," he says.
"Conceptually you could get data about your health, you could data about your whereabouts, how often you're working, how long you're working if you're taking toilet breaks and things like that.
"All of that data could conceivably be collected. So then the questions is: What happens to it afterwards? What is it used for? Who's going to be using it? Who is going to be seeing it?"
The implants have become so popular at Epicenter they stage monthly events where attendees have the option of getting "chipped" for free.
That means a visit for self-described "body hacker" Jowan Osterlund from Biohax Sweden.
"I'm certain that this will be the natural way to add another dimension to your everyday life," he says.
"For me to be able to seamlessly interact with everything digital around me means me leaving a key chain - which however is a 5,000-year-old invention, kind of lame - carrying money around or wallet and plastic cards. It's obvious, the next step, the next natural step for electronics is to move into the body."
While many stay clear of Osterlund's implants, some are keen to try it for themselves and join Epicenter's growing group of cyborgs.
The implants are injected using pre-loaded syringes into the fleshy area of the hand, just next to the thumb.
More often than not, there are no screams and barely a drop of blood made by the quick injection.
Twenty-five-year-old Sandra Haglof works for Stockholm-based events company Eventomatic.
Having had three piercings before, her left hand barely shakes as Osterlund injects the small chip.
"I want to be part of the future," she laughs.
"Hopefully I can leave my keys at home and just keep this I usually lose a lot of things like my keys and everything, so this will give me access and help me a lot more."


Read more: http://www.cbs46.com/story/35061316/cyborgs-at-work-the-company-microchipping-its-employees#ixzz4dQvTm46o