Grindhouse Wetware
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Biotechnology |
| Founded | 2011 |
| Founder | Tim Cannon, Shawn Sarver |
| Headquarters | Pittsburgh , United States |
| Products | Circadia, Northstar, Bottlenose |
Grindhouse Wetware is a biotechnology startup operating under an open source framework, located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Established in 2011 by Tim Cannon and Shawn Sarver, the firm focuses on creating technologies aimed at enhancing human abilities, guided by the principles of the biohacker movement. The company is particularly recognized for its Circadia implant, a wireless biometric monitoring device that was embedded in co-founder Cannon on October 22, 2013. Grindhouse Wetware has attracted attention from various media outlets, appearing on programs such as Taboo aired by the National Geographic Channel, Syfy's Joe Rogan Questions Everything, and The Big Picture with Kal Penn. Additionally, it has been featured on podcasts including Future Grind and Roderick Russell's Remarkably Human.
In November 2015, members of Grindhouse—Tim Cannon, Shawn Sarver, Justin Worst, Jessica Waldrip, Michael Seeler, and Marlo Webber—simultaneously implanted prototypes of their Northstar device during events held at the "Cyborg Fair" in Düsseldorf, Germany and a studio in Pittsburgh. This milestone was documented in an episode of MTV's documentary series True Life, which also presented the initial public demonstration of Grindhouse’s Bottlenose device equipped with morse code capabilities at the inaugural Pittsburgh Maker Faire.
Projects
- Circadia is an implantable sensor that wirelessly sends biometric information via Bluetooth to mobile devices such as phones or tablets and is powered through inductive charging. The initial implantation took place in October 2013 in Essen, Germany, performed by body modification artist Steve Haworth who implanted it into Grindhouse co-founder Tim Cannon.
- Northstar represents a forthcoming implant designed to incorporate gesture detection, magnetic north sensing, and subdermal LEDs that simulate natural bioluminescence.
- Bottlenose is a piece of wearable technology that utilizes either implanted or haptic magnets as input devices to convey data through nerve pathways.