Amie DD will never lose her car keys again—because they’re implanted in her arm.
The software engineer turned her forearm into a key fob by embedding the chip from a Tesla Model 3 valet card under her skin.
“I didn’t even cry,” she said of the final stage in her year-long bio implant hack project. “My cyberpunk upgrades are complete.”
Co-founder of ATAT Tech and an active member of the maker community, Amie already has an RFID (radio-frequency identification) implant in her hand.
“It’s just basic access control,” she explained in a video. “If I were to tap my hand to your phone, it would automatically open a browser and go to my web page. It also works with my front door.”
The technology uses electromagnetic fields to identify and track tags attached to objects—like a car.
After pre-ordering a Tesla Model 3 and learning the key card is RFID-based, Amie was inspired to copy the EV’s software onto her existing chip.
But, thwarted by the automaker’s top-notch security, she turned to plan B: install the Tesla chip as a second bio implant.
The process was long and often uncertain.
Once she dissolved the card’s plastic in acetone, Amie sent the microprocessor off to be encapsulated in a biopolymer that’s safe for use in the body.
“I talked to a few doctors [who] were a little wary about doing this, because it’s kind of, you know, a questionable thing,” Amie explained.
Finally, she found a specialist in body modifications who agreed to carry out the procedure.
Not everyone was on board, though.
“They say, ‘Oh, you can’t start your car with that. That’s not secure; it won’t work. It makes me want to do it more,” she explained in a video. “And not … because they say, ‘No, you can’t do it,’ and I want to defy them. It makes me question why. Why can’t you do it that way? What are the limitations?”
A strong stomach, for one.
Watch Amie DD’s full video diary of her Tesla Model 3 bio hack journey below.
(Warning: The second clip features the implant procedure [1:05-1:18], so look away if you’re squeamish.)
You can read more about the process on Amie’s Twitter and Instagram accounts; details were also published on Hackaday, for anyone else interested in placing a bit of circuitry in their body.
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