Tim Cannon
{{Short description|American software developer}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Tim Cannon
| image =
| alt =
| caption = Tim Cannon with the Circadia implant in his forearm, 2013
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1979|09|11}}
| birth_place = Camden, Ohio, United States
| death_date =
| death_place =
| nationality =
| other_names =
| occupation = CIO of Grindhouse Wetware
| years_active =
| known_for = Biohacking
| notable_works =
}}
Tim Cannon is an American software developer, entrepreneur, and biohacker based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is best known as Chief Information Officer of Grindhouse Wetware, a biotechnology startup company that creates technology to augment human capabilities. Grindhouse was co-founded by Cannon and Shawn Sarver in 2012. Cannon himself has had a variety of body modification implants, and has been referred to in the media as a cyborg.{{cite book|last1=Platoni|first1=Kara|title=We Have the Technology: How Biohackers, Foodies, Physicians, and Scientists Are Transforming Human Perception, One Sense at a Time|date=December 8, 2015|publisher=Basic Books|isbn=978-0465089970|pages=7, 237–254|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Aay6CgAAQBAJ&pg=PT7|accessdate=18 July 2017}}{{cite news|last1=Borkhataria|first1=Cécile|last2=Low|first2=Christine|last3=Berger|first3=Katya|title=Becoming Cyborg A new film explores the dawning age of technologically augmented humanity|url=https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/becoming-cyborg/|accessdate=18 July 2017|work=Scientific American|date=June 27, 2017}}{{cite news|last1=Pickup|first1=Oliver|title=Humans of the near future|url=https://www.raconteur.net/current-affairs/humans-of-the-near-future|accessdate=18 July 2017|work=Raconteur|date=June 15, 2017}}
Cannon has spoken at conferences around the world on the topics of human enhancement, futurism, and citizen science, including at TEDx Rosslyn,{{cite web|url=http://www.arlnow.com/2013/05/30/tedx-conference-coming-to-rosslyn/|title=TEDx Conference Coming to Rosslyn|work=Arlnow.com|date=30 May 2013|accessdate=2015-05-21}} FITUR,{{cite web|url=http://www.heraldo.es/noticias/sociedad/tecnologia_videojuegos/2015/01/28/el_biohacker_que_predica_fusion_del_hombre_maquina_335858_1831024.html|title=Tim Cannon, el biohacker que predica la fusión del hombre y la máquina|author=Heraldo de Aragón|date=28 January 2015|work=Heraldo.es|accessdate=2015-05-21}} the University of Maryland,{{cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1KaSMoxed8|title=Tim Cannon, "Potential Benefits of Sensory Augmentation" @ The University of Maryland|date=4 May 2013|work=YouTube}} the World Business Dialogue,{{cite web|url=http://www.world-business-dialogue.com/history-2/|title=History|publisher=world-business-dialogue.com|accessdate=2015-07-15}} the Medical Entrepreneur Startup Hospital,{{cite web|url=http://mesh-camp.com/news/be-disruptive-interview-with-tim-cannon/|title="Be disruptive!": Interview with Tim Cannon|work=mesh-camp.com|accessdate=2015-10-23}} and others. He has been published in Wired{{cite web|url=https://www.wired.de/collection/latest/tim-cannon-uber-die-optimierung-des-eigenen-korpers-und-die-diskriminierung-ihrer|title=Tim Cannon über die Optimierung des eigenen Körpers und die Diskriminierung ihrer Verweigerer|work=Wired.de|date=10 October 2014|accessdate=2015-05-21}} and featured in television shows such as National Geographic Channel's The Big Picture with Kal Penn.{{cite web|url=http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/the-big-picture-with-kal-penn/episodes/body-city/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150417150158/http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/the-big-picture-with-kal-penn/episodes/body-city/|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 17, 2015|title=The Big Picture with Kal Penn Body City
|work=National Geographic Channel}} Cannon has been featured on podcasts including Ryan O'Shea's Future Grind {{cite web|url=http://futuregrind.libsyn.com/future-grind-episode-1-tim-cannon-of-grindhouse-wetware-on-biohacking-and-transhumanism|title=Ep. 1 – Tim Cannon on Biohacking and Transhumanism|work=futuregrind.org|accessdate=2015-10-23}} and Roderick Russell's Remarkably Human.{{cite web|first= Roderick |last=Russell |url=http://remarkablyhuman.com/cyborg-next-door|title=Cyborg Next Door : Biohacking, Digital Implants & the Merging of Man & Machine|work=remarkablyhuman.com|date=30 September 2014 |accessdate=2015-10-23}}
Implants
Cannon has had a variety of body modification implants, including a radio-frequency identification (RFID) tag in his hand and magnetic implants in a finger, wrist, and tragus,{{cite web|last1=Xavier|title=Biohacking, the Body Modification that Turns You into a Cyborg|url=https://www.tattoodo.com/a/2016/10/biohacking-the-body-modification-that-turns-you-into-a-cyborg/|website=TattooDo|date=22 October 2016|accessdate=18 July 2017}} causing him to be labelled a cyborg by media outlets including Business Insider, Newsweek,{{cite web|url=http://www.newsweek.com/2014/08/08/cyborgs-are-walking-among-us-262132.html |first= Michael|last= Carroll|date=July 31, 2014|title=Part Human, Part Machine, Cyborgs Are Becoming A Reality |publisher=Newsweek.com |accessdate=2015-05-21}} The Awl,{{cite web|url=http://www.theawl.com/2013/12/the-future-of-biohacking-in-the-age-of-patent-trolls|first=Cat |last=Ferguson|title=The Future Of Biohacking In The Age Of Patent Trolls|work=Theawl.com|date=Dec 12, 2013|accessdate=2015-05-21}} and others. Because of legal and ethical restrictions on the types of surgery that can be done on humans, most of these modifications cannot be done by doctors or anesthetists. Instead they are done by body modification experts or on a "DIY" basis.
In May 2012, inspired by Lepht Anonym, Cannon had finger magnets implanted to give him an "extra sense", the ability to feel electromagnetism.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-09/04/diy-biohacking|title=Magnet-implanting DIY biohackers pave the way for mainstream adoption (Wired UK)|magazine=Wired UK|publisher=wired.co.uk|accessdate=2015-04-09}}{{cite journal|last1=Czuba|first1=Killian|title=Fast Forward|journal=Distillations |date=2017|volume=2|issue=4|pages=44–45|url=https://www.sciencehistory.org/distillations/magazine/fast-forward|accessdate=24 March 2018}}
In October 2013, Cannon became the first person to be implanted with the Grindhouse-designed biometric sensor known as Circadia, a procedure which was performed by body modification artist Steve Haworth in Essen, Germany.{{cite news|last1=Lallanilla|first1=Marc|title='Biohacker' Implants Chip in Arm|url=https://www.livescience.com/40892-biohacker-tim-cannon-cyborg.html|accessdate=18 July 2017|work=Live Science|date=November 1, 2013}}{{cite web|url=http://www.businessinsider.com/cyborg-people-who-implanted-tech-2014-8?op=1|title=Cyborg People Who Implanted Tech - Business Insider|publisher=Businessinsider.com|accessdate=2015-04-09}}{{cite web|url=http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2013/10/18/the-brave-new-worldofbiohacking.html|title=The brave new world of biohacking | Al Jazeera America|publisher=America.aljazeera.com|accessdate=2015-04-09}} The device, approximately the size of a deck of playing cards, automatically sent Cannon's temperature to his phone, was powered wirelessly through inductive charging, and mimicked bioluminescence with subdermal LEDs.{{cite web|url=http://makezine.com/magazine/make-43/underware-subdermal-devices/|title=Under Your Skin: Wearables Meet DIY Body Mods - Make: | Make|publisher=Makezine.com|accessdate=2015-04-09|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150414200949/http://makezine.com/magazine/make-43/underware-subdermal-devices/|archivedate=2015-04-14}}{{cite web|url=http://www.livescience.com/40892-biohacker-tim-cannon-cyborg.html|title='Biohacker' Implants Chip in Arm|work=LiveScience.com|date=November 2013|accessdate=2015-05-21}} After a few months as an initial proof-of-concept test, a series of panic attacks led to the device's removal.{{cite news|last1=Wainwright|first1=Oliver|title=Body-hackers: the people who turn themselves into cyborgs|url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/architecture-design-blog/2015/aug/14/body-hackers-the-people-who-turn-themselves-into-cyborgs|accessdate=18 July 2017|work=The Guardian|date=14 August 2015}} Cannon is currently working to design an improved, consumer-friendly version of his Circadia implant that measures additional biometrics such as blood glucose, blood oxygen, blood pressure, and heart rate data.{{cite web|url=http://www.wareable.com/wearable-tech/meet-the-grinders-implantables|title=Meet the grinders: The humans using tech to live forever|date=24 March 2015|publisher=Wareable.com|accessdate=2015-04-09}}
In November 2015, Tim had a prototype of Grindhouse's Northstar device implanted into his right forearm during a procedure at the “Cyborg Fair” in Düsseldorf, Germany.{{cite web|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/biohackers-are-implanting-led-lights-under-their-skin/|title=Biohackers are Implanting LED Lights Under their Skin|website=Motherboard|date=9 November 2015 |access-date=2016-03-29}} A little larger than a coin, Northstar contained five LED lights, creating a bioluminescent effect when touched with a magnet (such as the ones implanted in Cannon's fingertips.)
Its purpose is solely aesthetic.{{cite web|url=http://www.fastcompany.com/3059769/ive-got-you-under-my-skin-the-new-frontier-of-digital-implants|first=Steven |last=Melendez|title=I've got you under my skin|website=FastCompany|date=2016|accessdate=2016-08-17}} Capable of blinking around 10,000 times before the battery runs down, the device has been presented as a way to "light" tattoos.{{cite book|last1=Guler|first1=Sibel Deren|last2=Gannon|first2=Madeline|last3=Sicchio|first3=Kate|title=Crafting Wearables: Blending Technology with Fashion|date=2016|publisher=Apress|isbn=9781484218075|page=151|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_wLWDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA151|accessdate=18 July 2017}}
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cannon, Tim}}
Category:American futurologists
Category:American transhumanists