Today, human bodies are merging with technology in ways we could not have imagined a few decades ago. Superhuman strength, dexterity and senses have ceased to be the lot of science fiction - all this is already available to an ordinary person. Although the latest technology gives us the opportunity to see the possibilities of people in the future, these days they are most useful for people with disabilities of one kind or another. Technology is literally capable of making cyborgs out of people, replacing missing limbs, internal organs and senses. They can sometimes even improve normal body function.
Here are six amazing examples that can make you a cyborg right now. They show us how far we have already come and how far we can go in the future. You can…
Hear colors with … an antenna
Artist Neil Harbisson was born an unusual child - he did not see color. In 2004, he decided to change this. To do this, he connected an electronic antenna to the bottom of the skull, which converts the frequencies of light into vibrations, and the brain interprets them as sound, allowing the artist to “hear colors”. These frequencies are even capable of transcending the visual spectrum, allowing it to “hear” invisible frequencies, infrared and ultraviolet.
“There is no difference between the software and my brain, between my antenna and another part of my body. Does cybernetics unite it all? and I feel like technology,”he told National Geographic.
His body modification was not always received with a bang: the British government had problems when Harbisson's antenna appeared in the artist's passport photo. Harbisson fought the government to preserve it. He won, becoming the first "legally recognized" cyborg.
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Luke's Hand
The LUKE Arm, aka Luke's Arm (named after Luke Skywalker), is a high-tech prosthetic that allows the wearer to touch. A special motor provides feedback, simulating the resistance of various physical objects - the user can feel that the pillow has less resistance than the brick. With DARPA funding, the completed project received US and FDA approval in 2014.
Electronic sensors receive signals from the user's muscles, which are then translated into physical movement. The wearer can simultaneously manipulate multiple joints using switches that can be operated with their feet. Luke's first commercially available hand will become available to a small group of military amputees in 2016. Amputees can buy a prosthesis through their doctor, but the device is said to cost about $ 100,000.
Artificial vision
At the age of 20, Jens Neumann experienced two separate accidents, which left metal shards in his eyes, making him unable to see. In 2002, at the age of 37, Neumann took part in a clinical trial conducted by the Dobele Institute in Lisbon. A television camera was connected to his brain, bypassing his non-working eyes. From the points of light around him, figures were formed, outlining the world around him, giving him “that very point vision, as in the“Matrix”. The system allowed him to see Christmas lights dancing on his home in Canada that same year.
Unfortunately, the system crashed after a couple of weeks. And when William Dobele, the inventor of this technology, died in 2004, he left almost no documentation, so the technicians were unable to fix Neumann's system. In 2010, the system was surgically removed and Neumann became completely blind again.
Bionic leg controlled by the power of thought
Thought-guided leg was first used by Zach Wouter in 2012, a Seattle-based software engineer who had his leg amputated above the knee in 2009. The technology that converts brain signals into physical movement is called TMR (Targeted Muscle Reinnervation) and was created in 2003 for upper limb prostheses. But Wauter's prosthesis was revolutionary in some way because it replaced a leg for the first time.
In 2012, Zach Wouter climbed the 2,100 steps of the Willis Tower in Chicago with his prosthetic leg. It took him 53 minutes and 9 seconds.
Bebionic hand
The bebionic prosthesis company creates the most advanced hand prostheses. Individual motors in each joint move each part of the arm independently. To aid in day-to-day use, the bebionic has 14 predefined gripping patterns. The highly responsive motors change the speed and grip strength in real time - they are delicate enough for the user to hold an egg between the index finger and thumb, and robust enough to support up to 45 kilograms.
The bebionic hand became commercially available as early as 2010. Over the next seven years, the models only improved in terms of battery life, flexibility and software.
Eyeborg project
Toronto-based filmmaker Rob Spence decided to replace his missing right eye with a prosthesis equipped with a wireless video camera. Through a partnership with wireless communications company RF and a group of electrical engineers, Spence had a prosthetic eye shell that could fit enough electronics into tight spaces.
The camera can record up to 30 minutes of footage before the battery runs out. Spence used footage from his prosthetic eye in the documentary Deus Ex: The Eyeborg Documentary.
Are you ready to become a cyborg?
Ilya Khel