BOCA RATON, Florida -- An "x" made up of a gauze pad and a Band-Aid marks the spot where 14-year-old Derek Jacobs was implanted with a VeriChip. He was first, then came mom Leslie and dad Jeffrey, making the Jacobs the first family in the world to be "chipped." Tonight's "Tech Live" takes you there.

 Derek looked away from his right arm and his eyes were closed as Dr. David Wulkan implanted the chip in a Boca Raton medical clinic.

After a doctor told him the five-second procedure was finished, Derek told TechTV it was "very easy." TechTV was joined in the chipping room only by an NBC camera crew.

Friday morning's procedure on the Jacobs, nicknamed the "Chipsons," followed months of controversy and media scrutiny of the technology.

About the size of a grain of rice, the VeriChip from Applied Digital Solutions is similar to the identification chips implanted in pets. But this is the first version designed specifically for humans. Later versions of the device might include a GPS feature, enabling medical facilities to track patients such as Alzheimer's sufferers who may wander away.

Privacy-rights advocates worry that a chip like this could someday be made mandatory and could let the government track unsuspecting citizens. Applied Digital Solutions shrugs off these concerns, saying the technology is purely voluntary.

"This is an elective technology. We live in the United States of America, it's a free world. You want the VeriChip, get the VeriChip. You don't want the VeriChip, don't get the VeriChip," said Applied Digital CTO Keith Bolton, sounding a bit agitated with continued questions about the privacy controversy.

Implants spawn media frenzy

Leslie Jacobs' implant procedure went as smoothly as her son's, and her husband's was carried live by NBC's "The Today Show" during Friday's broadcast.

"It was amazing. I thought I was going to feel something, but I didn't," said Leslie Jacobs, who said during today's press conference that she is a shareholder in Applied Digital Solutions. She said she bought stock in the company a couple of months after being chosen to become among the first to have the device implanted.

"I'm a dentist, or I was," said Jeffrey Jacobs, who flashed a thumbs-up to the assembled media throng. "And this was so much easier than going to the dentist!"

Journalists from around the world converged on the clinic where the procedures took place, showing up at 5 a.m. Eastern. TechTV was joined by crews from ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox News, "Inside Edition," and other media outlets from around the globe. As many as 100 journalists were on hand to cover the VeriChip implant. Security was tight, including eight police officers from the Boca Raton Police Department, a bomb-sniffing dog, and plainclothes security agents.

But the event went off without a hitch, except when the conversation moved away from the pioneering family and toward the company's business plan and opportunities going forward.

The company says it has identified a potential global market for the technology of about $15 billion. During the morning press event, Bolton said early responses from potential customers and local area hospitals have been very positive.

"We have talked to 14 hospitals in Palm Beach and approximately 12 of them have agreed to take the VeriChip," Bolton said.

But later, Applied Digital Solutions CEO Scott Silverman said that wasn't accurate. According to Silverman, the 12 hospitals had merely indicated they were interested in the technology but had not signed any agreements to deploy the VeriChip.

The company also is working with several overseas distributors to begin deploying the technology in various countries.

But business controversy aside, the doctor who performed Friday morning's implants seemed bullish on the VeriChip's capabilities.

"I think it would be very helpful to have information in the patients when they come into the emergency rooms, any kind of information that a patient would like to relate to a health-care provider when they're seen. Oftentimes people are unable to give that history -- if they're unconscious, have Alzheimer's disease, and cannot give an accurate history," said Wulkan, one of the first doctors officially licensed by Applied Digital Solutions to implant the VeriChip.

The company sees "millions" of potential VeriChip recipients over the next two or three years and says it is actively negotiating contracts with several clinics and hospitals. But to date only two clinics in the Palm Beach area have been officially licensed.

VeriChip also says it is not concerned with competitors who might try to steal market share. The company reiterated today that its patent on the technology is enforceable for the next 13 years.

Posted May 10, 2002