Wisconsin tech company to implant microchips in employees
An American tech company will soon offer its employees microchip implants – a move being hailed as the first of its kind in the United States.
Three Square Market (32M), a Wisconsin-based modern vending company that outfits break rooms with "micro markets," announced it is poised to offer employees voluntary implants, which can be used for vending in the break room, to open doors, log in to computers and operate the copy machine, among other conveniences. The company is slated to offer the microchips to its employees beginning Aug. 1.
The company expects to chip more than 50 employees by injecting rice-sized sensors underneath their skin in the space between the thumb and forefinger. Each injection takes a matter of seconds.
The tiny sensors feature RFID technology, or Radio-Frequency Identification, which uses electromagnetic fields to identify electronically stored information. The embedded chips allow employees to access technology with just a wave of a hand.
32M CEO Todd Westby said in a statement that he sees chip technology as "the next evolution in payment systems" for anything from unlocking phones and sharing business cards to storing medical information and convenient payment methods.
"Eventually, this technology will become standardized allowing you to use this as your passport, public transit, all purchasing opportunities, etc.," he said.
Three Square Market will partner with Biohax International, a Swedish company, to perform the injections with pre-loaded syringes.
Biohax also equipped a Swedish start-up hub with the chip technology. That company began offering its employees microchips earlier this year, according to The Associated Press.
Copyright 2017 U.S. News & World Report
