All the public research here: Subdermal-Magnetic-Implants-RnD
SMIS (Subdermal Magnetic Implant Stimulator) is the successor to the BitSense Project and my work at the IT lab LIRMM in Montpellier on AR and VR haptics through magnetic subdermal implants.
It aims at collecting scientific knowledge and providing the tools to experiment with feedback through the use of magnetic implants in the fingertips. This has applications in both virtual and augmented reality as well as sensory substitution and everyday convenience.
" Subdermal implants are becoming a common body augmentation in the biohacking community. I personally have 3 N52 Neodymium magnets in my right hand among other implants. These allow me to feel magnetic fields from a short distance. The sensation is provided by the magnets slightly vibrating among the nerve endings.
Realizing that being able to wirelessly stimulate this “6th sense” though the production of magnetic fields is a step towards human and machine interfacing made me wonder what the limits of this interface are. "
SMIS App:
The app (soon on the Playstore) will hopefully allow anyone to make good use of their SMIS device! It has an advanced stereo signal generator and will include more and more features and experiments over time!
Probably the main feature is a universal test sequence that will precisely define your implant's sensitivity in a standardized way that will allow to compare implants. Also once a large amount of test results is assembled we will finally be able to analyze them and draw fact based conclusions on what parameters influence sensing and in what way.
There are also sensory substitution features to be expected where the output from the phone's sensors will be sent to your implant to hopefully give you more artificial senses (finer magnetic fields, compass, light, GPS, etc...).
Finally I hope to include some Augmented Reality experiences such as touching virtual objects. But that heavily depends on what an android phone is capable of.
SMIS Devices:
There will be a couple different devices, depending on what the main use-case is (for now only the CUBE is available). The CUBE, with its completely wireless and compact construction is made to fit in your pocket and accompany you everywhere. It is great for beginners. A future device, the SMIS FREE will be designed to be worn as a watch and will have two wired rings. It is designed to be worn and used for long periods of time. It can for example relay your phones notifications or be used to read your received messages to you in morse code. Or maybe you could use it to train yourself at understanding audio through your fingers. A non bluetooth device will also be made called the SMIS WIRE. This one will use rings and will give very low latency and a large freedom of movement for AR and VR applications (see video at the bottom).
Finally I'm also planning on modifying desktop mice to provide haptic feedback through the same method.
The research:
As subdermal magnetic implants (SMIs) are relatively new and mostly unknown by the academic world, therefore most of the research had yet to be done.
My first step in this quest was the collection of existing common knowledge and personal experience in a self-published e-book: Getting to know the magnet inside you.: A guide to magnetic implants .
This and a basic understanding of physics and electronics lead me to start experimenting with my magnets and creating wearable rings to transfer information to them through a varying magnetic field.
This and a basic understanding of physics and electronics lead me to start experimenting with my magnets and creating wearable rings to transfer information to them through a varying magnetic field.
I was able to combine this experimentation with my studies in the development of video games where I proposed the device as a new medium of interaction in games (BitSense).
This eventually lead me to a six month internship in an IT lab where I was able to dedicate all my time to the project with access to more expensive hardware. This was an opportunity to explore the applications of SMIs in haptic rendering with a rigorous scientific guidance, the result of which might be published soon.
Now that I had a firm grasp on what is doable and what is not I knew exactly where I wanted to go with the idea: I wanted to make the technology accessible to anyone with implants. Firstly to share the applications I came up with and secondly to see what other cyborgs would create.
