Wisconsin’s Three Square Market wants to expand their microchip program for staff, adding GPS tech for some
A Wisconsin-based technology company famous for microchipping willing employees plans to debut a microchip with GPS technology and voice recognition that will be powered by body heat, Three Square Market CEO Todd Westby announced.
“We started with a simple little chip, and now it’s evolved into a whole other business. We’re in development right now of an actual chip that will be powered by the human body … and it will have GPS-tracking capabilities along with voice recognition,” Westby said on CNBC’s “Closing Bell.”
The tech company made headlines by covering the costs of microchip implants for its employees.
Westby says 92 out of 196 of the company’s employees have been chipped. Only one person — a former employee — has had the chip removed.
“The vast majority of our employees absolutely love the conveniences that having this chip in their hand really brings to them,” Westby said.
Westby described the chip as similar to an ID badge that can never get lost and promotes the chip by how it assists employees with day-to-day tasks, such as unlocking doors, logging in to computers using printers, and buying snacks.
Some critics of the move pointed to tracking of employees or their actions, but this was not part of the initial rollout.
The new chip is much more advanced, going being just GPS.
“It’s not only GPS, it’s not only voice activation, it’s working on monitoring your vital signs. And there are different medical institutions that obviously want that,” said Patrick McMullan, president of Three Square Market and chip technology business Three Square Chip.
“It’s going to tell my … doctor’s office I have an issue.”
McMullan said the company has had requests for “a bunch of other stuff,” such as tracking people, but he said the most practical and worthy application of the technology is for patients suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.
“Without question it’s a worthy cause, and it’s a product in demand,” McMullan said.
“You see a lot of discussion now about implants, and how they can take your heartbeat, get your blood glucose levels — you see Amazon just hiring a top-notch doctor, you see Walmart filing for patents on this. What we’ve really done is made it acceptable, or brought it to the forefront where people are now talking about it and looking at the benefits it can do for a person,” Westby said.
VeriTeq microchip
Biohax, a Swedish company, has implanted its microchip in several thousand customers, allowing them to ride trains without using tickets, turn on the lights in their apartments and access a gym the company has partnered with. The company claims the microchips are used only to enhance systems that are “completely under your control.”
