A group of Swiss scientists developed a wearable microchip which sits on the skin throughout the day and records hormone levels via sweat. The microchip measures levels of cortisol in the body and tells the wearer when they are experiencing too much stress, say the researchers.
“In people who suffer from stress-related diseases, this circadian rhythm is completely thrown off and if the body makes too much or not enough cortisol, that can seriously damage an individual’s health, potentially leading to obesity, cardiovascular disease, depression or burnout.” – Adrian lonescu, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), lead Nanoelectronic Devices Laboratory researcher
While these devices may be helpful in a hospital setting, technology companies fully intent to integrate them into wearable tech like smart watches, pushing us closer to a world where everything we do is being tracked and recorded around the clock.
“The joint R&D team at EPFL and Xsensio reached an important R&D milestone in the detection of the cortisol hormone,” said Xsensio CEO Esmeralda Magally. “Xsensio will make the cortisol sensor a key part of its Lab-on-SkinTM platform to bring stress monitoring to next-gen wearables.”
These microchips are intended to eventually connect to the ‘internet of things,’ a comprehensive array of devices which track and record us at all times from our homes to our places of work.
Former US intelligence chief James Clapper admitted over five years ago that the government ‘might’ use the internet of things to spy on you.
“In the future, intelligence services might use the [internet of things] for identification, surveillance, monitoring, location tracking, and targeting for recruitment, or to gain access to networks or user credentials,” he said.
The number of devices spying on you every day without your knowledge may come as a surprise. We have known since Edward Snowden spoke out about illegal surveillance at the National Security Agency (NSA) that the government collects a record of everything that we say and do via our smartphones and computers, including through the build-in microphones and cameras.
Read more: Swiss Researchers Develop Wearable Microchip that Eliminates Bodily Privacy Once and for All
