Like everything else, implantable medical devices are going wireless. A new in-body antenna chip from Zarlink Semiconductor is in preproduction, and should appear in pacemakers and hearing implants this year.

By transmitting data to and receiving instructions from nearby base stations, body area network (BAN) chips can reprogram your heartbeat at your doctor’s office or make a diagnosis from a bedside wireless monitor at home.

Not only will we be surrounded by intelligent objects in the streets, but we’ll wear clothes made of nano-engineered smart fabrics that will use wearable technology that runs on body heat such as intelligent electronic contact lenses functioning as TV screens when we are in the subway.