4 ms·

I keep thinking that the magnet in the finger would be a fun thing to try out. Something that is pretty safe and reversible. Am I crazy?

tmearnest 9y ago
Maybe a little. I've always wanted to try it out too. One of the really cool things about it is that it imparts a sort of sense of magnetic fields. If you have a magnet implanted in your finger, you can feel it vibrating in response to AC currents. Unfortunately the magnets can break and spill out of their plastic encasement. One of the reasons I haven't tried it out yet.
- maneesh 9y ago
  I wear a Pavlok wearable with a magnetic milanese strap, and it has a really cool ability to make me feel metallicized obejcts and AC with high current. Like a first step to an implant.
lxmorj 9y ago
IDK. Start with a ring with a magnet on it?
- beobab 9y ago
  Or gloves with magnets in the fingertips?
- teddythetwig 9y ago
  The trick is that when the magnet vibrates, it stimulates the same nerve endings that are picking up the vibration of your fingerprint ridges rubbing over something. After a little integration period, the sensation is similar to a very light touch running over the fingertip. I don't know if a ring would produce the same sensation.
frozenport 9y ago
Not clear how it will behave in an MRI
kobeya 9y ago
Yes. Most people who have done the magnet in the finger rate the experience as "meh, wouldn't do again."
- teddythetwig 9y ago
  I quite enjoy the experience.
- triplesec 9y ago
  Why do you say that? I have several friends who found it a great thing, though as people they are definitely outliers, and I haven't asked them again in a couple of years.
  - kobeya 9y ago
    There was an article on HN some months back where hey followed up with one of the main body mod professional to do this work. He reported that most of his business now is people requesting them taken out, and that new installs have precipitously declined. It then went on to interview many people that had such a modification and what they felt about it.
Epholys 9y ago
I'm also fascinated by this, so I did some research. Here's a pastebin with the most important links I found : https://pastebin.com/XPcbrANV https://pastebin.com/XPcbrANV (the description of the links are in french but the webpages are in english).
rusk 9y ago
Right up until you can't get into your hotel room 'cause you've wiped your swipe-card.
- teddythetwig 9y ago
  Been there :/ I'm not sure what it is, but it seems like hotel keycards are quite low quality devices, because it doesn't happen with credit cards.
  - rusk 9y ago
    Credit-card is imprinted once for all time; a hotel room key may be imprinted at any time, for each time a guest needs a new key. Presumably the "Read Only" vs "Read/Write" nature of these usecases confers a particular amount of robustness on the former.
sporkologist 9y ago
Be sure to tell your doctor if you get an MRI
teddythetwig 9y ago
I've had one for the past four years now. I'm an active climber and sailor, and never once has it interfered in my day to day life. The benefits include being able to sort of feel your way around the equipotential lines of an alternating magnetic field. The worst thing that has happened to me was about two weeks into having the implant, I brought my finger to close to a strong magnet used in a menu to stick it to the wall. The magnet in my finger(which is shaped like a small tic-tac) did a 180 under my skin. Ouch.

tmearnest 9y ago

Maybe a little. I've always wanted to try it out too. One of the really cool things about it is that it imparts a sort of sense of magnetic fields. If you have a magnet implanted in your finger, you can feel it vibrating in response to AC currents. Unfortunately the magnets can break and spill out of their plastic encasement. One of the reasons I haven't tried it out yet.

maneesh 9y ago
I wear a Pavlok wearable with a magnetic milanese strap, and it has a really cool ability to make me feel metallicized obejcts and AC with high current. Like a first step to an implant.

lxmorj 9y ago

IDK. Start with a ring with a magnet on it?

beobab 9y ago
Or gloves with magnets in the fingertips?
teddythetwig 9y ago
The trick is that when the magnet vibrates, it stimulates the same nerve endings that are picking up the vibration of your fingerprint ridges rubbing over something. After a little integration period, the sensation is similar to a very light touch running over the fingertip. I don't know if a ring would produce the same sensation.

frozenport 9y ago

Not clear how it will behave in an MRI

kobeya 9y ago

Yes. Most people who have done the magnet in the finger rate the experience as "meh, wouldn't do again."

teddythetwig 9y ago
I quite enjoy the experience.
triplesec 9y ago
Why do you say that? I have several friends who found it a great thing, though as people they are definitely outliers, and I haven't asked them again in a couple of years.
- kobeya 9y ago
  There was an article on HN some months back where hey followed up with one of the main body mod professional to do this work. He reported that most of his business now is people requesting them taken out, and that new installs have precipitously declined. It then went on to interview many people that had such a modification and what they felt about it.

Epholys 9y ago

I'm also fascinated by this, so I did some research. Here's a pastebin with the most important links I found : https://pastebin.com/XPcbrANV https://pastebin.com/XPcbrANV (the description of the links are in french but the webpages are in english).

rusk 9y ago

Right up until you can't get into your hotel room 'cause you've wiped your swipe-card.

teddythetwig 9y ago
Been there :/ I'm not sure what it is, but it seems like hotel keycards are quite low quality devices, because it doesn't happen with credit cards.
- rusk 9y ago
  Credit-card is imprinted once for all time; a hotel room key may be imprinted at any time, for each time a guest needs a new key. Presumably the "Read Only" vs "Read/Write" nature of these usecases confers a particular amount of robustness on the former.

sporkologist 9y ago

Be sure to tell your doctor if you get an MRI

teddythetwig 9y ago

I've had one for the past four years now. I'm an active climber and sailor, and never once has it interfered in my day to day life. The benefits include being able to sort of feel your way around the equipotential lines of an alternating magnetic field. The worst thing that has happened to me was about two weeks into having the implant, I brought my finger to close to a strong magnet used in a menu to stick it to the wall. The magnet in my finger(which is shaped like a small tic-tac) did a 180 under my skin. Ouch.