It’s been a few months since I got my first set of implants and the honeymoon phase is wearing off. These days I find myself scanning my NFC tags more to remind myself that they exist than out of any actual need. Summer is over and I no longer have any use for the t5577 pool key on my NExT. My employer uses modern, clone-resistant credentials and has no interest in pandering to my transhuman capabilities. My question for all my fellow cyborgs out there is, what comes next? It’s really fun and cool to have data stored within my body, I absolutely love having a subdermal LED, but where do we go from here? I find myself in a constant war between aesthetics and practicality. Is there a real reason for me to have computational hardware installed inside my body when I have a phone in my pocket and a laptop in my bag? Probably not. Does it sound and feel super cool? Duh. Ultimately, I want to hear thoughts from fellow implantees, cyborgs, biohackers, or whatever you want to call yourself regarding your view on the future of “cybernetics”, altering the capabilities of the human body through technology. I also want to hear about the projects you may be scheeming up or already have in the works, and how I can help.
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moar implants! I use my apex 2 implants daily for passkeys, otp code generation, and payment.
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build your world. Start modifying things, changing out door locks, adding RFID functionality to things you interact with in your life.
Vivokey Apex
The Vivokey Apex is a YubiKey, but better.
Once you have one, you’ll use it daily
Get the ring conversion or A.C.E and you’ll be starting conversations when you pay with a wave of your hand.
Use a magnet for magic tricks, or bets in a bar.
Make projects to remove keys from your life.
Open your house, start your car etc.
The options are endless, and only limited by your imagination
Check out Projects for some inspiration
Heavy feelings there. I’d like to share with you my journey.
First I started with the xMagic in my R0. My need was to access my girlfriend’s place at the time since the gate allowed LF and her door allows HF. I was disappointed that the HF wasn’t able to read through the door lock and the LF was pretty mediocre with access too. I tried it with my work pass and it worked well, but only for a couple of doors.
That’s when I decided to give the flex series a try. I then installed flexUG4 in my R2 and flexEM on my right wrist. I got an NExT as well and figured fuck it and throw it in my L0. At this stage, you kinda add more just because you can. I LOVE my flexEM. It works like a charm. The flexUG4 (now has been replaced with the upgraded version!) was extremely mediocre and hardly worked. I barely used it. I then was where you were, what now?
Well, the X-Series disappointed me because the read distance is extremely small and makes it difficult for average readers without a lot of trial and error. The flexEM ruined me by reading through my coat and with extreme ease. But then, with how difficult the X-Series is to read, why not take advantage of that? Can’t be vulnerable to scans if they can’t scan it. So I started using my NExT as a password manager. It worked very very well. So well, I needed an upgrade in capacity (and security!!).
That’s where phase three comes in. The Apex 2 Ring Conversion just came out, I talked to @tac0s about the flexUG4 and the new one has better range (it’s actually usable!!) and was thinking about magnets because I work in IT and figured I could get a lot of use out of it.
I ended up getting:
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Apex 2 Ring Conversion installed where the flexUG4 was, in my R2. This is a BEAST of an implant, my favorite so far. Too many things to list why I love it here.
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dUG4t installed below the flexEM in my right arm. I figured if the flexUG4 fails to read, I have a massive implant as a backup that CANNOT fail. Plus it’s next to my beloved flexEM, I love that little guy
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flexUG4 (New!) installed in my L3, willing to give it a second try and it paid off!
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flexDF2 in my L1, as I realized that DESFire has a lot of storage and there’s the ChipVault app made by @N0AGI . It’s AMAZING, please look into this! https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.n0agi.chipvault (This chip wasn’t actually part of my plan, but the buy one get one half off sale was too good to pass it up. Another impulse chippy!)
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m04280bar installed below my watch on my left wrist.
I then got two xDF chips I’m planning on replacing in my L0 and my R0 when that time comes. They will be used for credential storage and script storage. I then got two NExT v2 chips that I have yet to really figure out where it goes. I’m hoping to talk with @tac0s when the time comes to figure that out. “What do I need them for?” Nothing. “Do I want them installed?” Oh fuck yeah! “Why would I do that to myself?” 
Basically, try to reinvent yourself. Think of these chips as a part of you now. You don’t want them sitting there and feel bad about that, think of something and be creative! You never know what you might think of or come up with! It’s amazing how versatile these chips can be. Don’t forget about the KBR1 Keyboard Reader too. That can be used to unlock your computer with either LF or HF, and so much more if you want to put the NTAG216 to work!
I hope my story gives you some perspective on what you want to do and how to keep moving forward. There will definitely be times when they’ll sit there and there’s nothing you can really do about it, but that’s like trying to make every part of your life active and usable, it’s not realistic, especially if you start getting more because fuck it you want more. I plan to use my flexUG4 and dUG4t for hotel use and this place in Seattle that uses Magic 1K cards to identify how much beer you drank, but beyond that, they’ll be hanging nicely until I reinvent them again, one day at a time.
I think the “what comes next” is fully dependent on what you want to get out of your implants. Like you, after the honeymoon phase came to an end I had to figure out what to with my implants. Thankfully a couple of them I got specifically for practicality, I have 4 implants with 6 chips. 2 chips I use daily (debit card and work fob), 1 chip is for when I travel (mainly for hotel card clones or meowwolf), 1 chip for quick access medical information/emergency contacts plus biometric anti theft confirmation for my phone, and 2 chips are redundant (mainly because one has a hard being read most of the time so I got a different one to takes it’s place, no reason to take it out so I left it alone. The other redundant one is because I didn’t do enough research and my first implant was not what I thought it was, didn’t find out until after install). Once my bus changes readers, I’ll 3 daily use chips. This makes 4 of my chips dormant 90%, which might feel pointless, but that’s the fun of it, having the option and ability to use them when needed.
As for what next for you, I’ve heard and seen some interesting things about the apex line of implants/chips. I don’t have one because I’m not really sure what it does or what it’s good for (still researching but main hurdle is im broke).
You could also try and find a way to crack your work badge or see about having security authorize it’s usage, then you’d have at least 1 daily use chips.
I’ve debated setting up some programs on my phone to automate my apt. when I get home (turn on/off lights, start up my pc or maybe my tv, etc).
Daily use chips I’d say are fully dependent on what you need in your day to day life. It may be that your life just doesn’t have any. I would full heatedly recommend the debit card conversion though, it’s so much fun, so useful, and the reactions I get are great.
Magnets. That’s what is next.
In all seriousness I use my finger magnets and my bar magnet in my arm more than any other implant… Even more than the payment implant because I don’t have money because I keep buying implants.
I’ve been considering getting the dUG4T (probably on top of my arm just below my wrist), and I hope it’s okay to ask some questions about it. Do you notice the dUG4T a lot under your skin? What kind of anesthetic did you use for the scalpel procedure, if any? (I dunno how hardcore people get) I’ve gotten a few x-series implants, but I’ve never done the scalpel procedure. I just wanna know more about what I’m in for.
Yep! You can notice it if you touch it for sure, but otherwise it kinda faded into the skin.
I’m still healing in the cut, but the area feels nearly fully encapsulated, as in no swelling. It reads through my jacket and it’s nice. (The dirt is after the wound has healed and I’m using a silicone scar away frequently.)
I’ll be honest, I’m not sure, but the person I had gone through uses a needle anesthesia and ensures I cannot feel the area whatsoever. He cleans the wound with alcohol and I can’t feel a thing, very nice. Would not recommend going raw.
From my experience, and adding my flexUG4 first implant, it varies on the size. The dUG4T is rather large, the size of an American Quarter. It bumps out quite a bit too, which was unexpected, so if this will be your first implant, it will be a wild one for sure.
I’ll explain what happens from my perspective and how it feels, excluding any technical terms or what is actually happening. I’m not including every single detail for brevity.
I would be laying back and having my arm over my stomach. He would initiate the anesthesia by needle around the area. It stings a little as a needle would, but quickly starts blurring into nothing. He would then poke the area to check if any pain and I’d report nothing.
When he starts working, I can’t feel anything except the weight on my hand. The cutting is very quick. He then what feels like creating an opening for the implant, similar to scraping off a sticker feeling, making a pocket. (Note: with my implant replacement on my hand, he had to cut through existing scar tissue. With this implant, the dUG4T, it’s new flesh so it was very quick and easy, no friction. Good to note if you’ve had work done in that area before!) He then would place the implant in what feels like a numb brushing feeling and then start with the stitching process. I had to ask if it was in since I couldn’t feel anything. I felt like the stitching up took much longer than the cutting and fitting, so take that as you will. After tying up the stitch, he would clean me up and put a tegaderm on the area.
Afterwards, the anesthesia lasts nearly a day and a half. I didn’t really feel anything until two days after and boy is that painful. You must be careful putting on clothes and where it will be brushed against. You’re essentially declaring that spot no touch. Moving the wrist also made it feel slightly painful so I was stiff holding for a while. I did spray hypochloric acid to keep the wound cleaned, as recommended by my specialist.
Usually, reading through the swelling is difficult, but the dUG4T laughs at your face for any difficulty. It’s a beautiful little piece I’m excited for.
I’m still healing but the top of the skin is still slightly numb, even as writing this. I believe once it’s fully healed, I’ll regain all feeling, but wanted to give that disclaimer. The area felt very numb for a long while even after the anesthesia wore off. No necrosis, so it’s still receiving blood flow, you just won’t feel very much if you touch the top of it.
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I hope this information helps! Please let me know if you have any questions! If you’re interested in the Magic Gen4 cards and don’t want to go as large, I’d recommend the flexUG4. I’m waiting for it to fully heal to give it a real test beyond reading with flipper and my phone, but it is much better than the old version of the flexUG4, so I’m excited to give it a run!
These two images below are when I had gotten it installed and two days after, for reference. The hand implant is the Apex 2 Ring Conversion if curious.
Super helpful actually!! I’m leaning more toward the flexUG4 now, since the nearest professional to me doesn’t offer anesthetic, and the next closest professional that can do anesthetic is at least 5 hours away, at least according to the partner map. My only concern about the flexUG4 is read range. I’m willing to believe any flex implant has better range than the x series chips I have, but I’ve also seen some varying reviews on the flexUG4 range. What exactly is the difference between the old UG4 and the new one?
I have yet to fully test the device since I want to make sure it’s 100% healed before doing anything, so I can’t really say for sure right now, but the read range has been exceptionally better!
This thread here is what convinced me to give it another shot. The read distance on the older version was horrible. I could read it with my flipper, but would have to take the case off. Could read it with my phone, but had to take the case off. Any real world application involved me smashing my hand against the reader until it either read or didn’t. Very sad stuff. 
This was after fully healing and it’s been several months. It also was unreadable after installation due to swelling.
New flexUG4 was readable straight after installation. It reads without having to smush the device to find where it is with much better range. It’s not as super as the dUG4T since that’s like God mode levels of reading, but I feel as though I’m not going to suffer trying to make it work.
As an indication (and still trying to figure out the quirks of cloning amiibo, which has something to do with the magic gen4 card and not the implant), I’ve tried it on the Switch, 3DS, Flipper Zero, Android Pixel 6 Pro (with and without the NFC repeater) and an ACR1252U USB reader. Everything reads with no difficulty except the needing to move my hand since I’m not used to where it’s aligned. (Installed in L3, no smushing!)
I am going to give it another month or so before I actually go test it on something I’ve been meaning to. There’s this place in Seattle that uses MIFARE Classic 1K tags as a temporary badge for paying for beers, like a traditional beer hall. It’s super cool. I tried using my old flexUG4 [when I had it] and it couldn’t read, so waiting to go for round 2. Also getting all the chips and installing them was expensive, so being frugal for the time being. 
Please don’t do it with anesthesia. It will be hell on earth and you will hate yourself for so many days. It still stung after it wore off but it was manageable.
I couldn’t imagine the horrors of doing it without the numbing. 
There was also this segment in a thread to ensure it’s installed vertically, aligning with your fingers, and not horizontally, such as across the hand left to right. Do keep that in mind if you intend on having it placed in your hands. My preference is to have it in the hand so when you go to badge in a hotel, you’re not doing some shifting. Wrist is an exception if the reader is weak and that’s my last resort.
I was thinking my right hand between the pinky and ring bone on the back of my hand. What would you say the read range is so far for the flexUG4 even with it still healing?
What we refer to as P3
if it was on the pinky bone, that would be P4
On the blade / Knife edge / “Judo Chop” area P5
I have it on my L3, same location but on my left hand. I’m sure what a good measurement would be, but from what I was able to test with my Flipper Zero (no rubber covering), it can consistently read through 20 pages in my passport, including the first laminated page. 21 pages and it’s not consistent at all. That’s quite a lot of range all things considered. My old flexUG4 couldn’t read through the rubber covering at all until I took it off. Only good things to say once more.
Is that 20 pages post installation? Cause that’s miles above the x-series implants I have, I would not mind that at all.
that is such a strange unit of measurement, considering US passports (and i’m sure others) have an NFC blocking design that interferes with readers when closed.. depending on how you were holding your passport it may have been artificially reducing performance 
It’s all I had at the time to measure. 
If the pages affect performance with the front and back hardcovers folded to the side, then yeah, probably not a good measurement.
I’ll try again but with printer paper.
Shout outs to # Anything But Metric
Yup! It was installed on September 27th, so plenty of time to have healed. It doesn’t feel like there’s any swelling at all, so I would say fully healed.
I’ll try to give a better metric than 20 passport pages since Amal said the chip nearby could have some interference. It was what I had at the time and I wanted to give a quick response. 
meh possibly.. depends a lot on the reader and orientation of everything of course but probably not that much tbh
we use iso standard pvc cards with no chips, just white plastic cards.. when we do performance measurements we have a jig on top to ensure the same placement every time, then the cards, and they sit in an alignment frame. Then we call our performance in “number of cards”.. like this one got 32 cards!
