Today, human bodies merge with technology as we could not imagine a few decades ago. Superhuman strength, agility, and senses ceased to be the stuff of science fiction — all this is already available to the ordinary person. Despite the fact that latest technology give us the opportunity to see the people in the future, these days they are most useful for people suffering from disability in one form or another. Technology literally capable of making people cyborgs, replacing missing limbs, internal organs and senses. Sometimes they even improve normal body function.
Before you six amazing examples which can make you a cyborg now. They show us how far we’ve come and how far we can go in the future. You will be able…
Hear colors with the help of the… antenna
Artist Neil Harbisson was born a normal child — he didn’t see color. In 2004 he decided to change it. To this end, he hooked up an electronic antenna to the bottom of the skull, which converts the frequencies of light in vibration, and the brain interpreterpath them as sound, allowing the artist to “hear colors”. These frequencies are even able to go beyond the visual spectrum, allowing him to “hear” the invisible frequencies, infrared and ultraviolet.
“There is no difference between the software and my brain, between my antenna and the other part of the body. Cybernetics have in common? and I feel the technology,” he said in an interview with National Geographic.
His body modification is not always accepted with enthusiasm: the British government had problems when the antenna Harbisson appeared in the photo of the artist in the passport. Harbisson fought with the government for its preservation. He won, becoming the first “legally recognized” as a cyborg.
“Hand Luke”
LUKE Arm, she is the “Luke Arm” (named after Luke Skywalker), is a high — tech prosthesis that allows the wearer to feel. Special motor provides feedback, simulating the resistance exerted by the various physical objects — the user can feel the pillow has less resistance than a brick. With funding by DARPA, the project has received the approval of US FDA in 2014.
Electronic sensors receive signals from the muscles of the user which are then translated into physical movement. Media can simultaneously manipulate multiple joints with switches that can be controlled with the help of their feet. The first commercially available “hand Luke” will be available to a small group of military amputees in 2016. Amputees can buy prosthetic through your doctor, but they say that the device will cost about $ 100,000.
Artificial vision
At the age of 20 years Jens Neumann experienced two separate accidents, in which his eyes got metal fragments, depriving him of the opportunity to see. In 2002, at the age of 37 years, Neumann has participated in clinical trials conducted by the Lisbon Institute, Dobele. His brain connected the television camera, pass on the outside of the eye. From points of light around him formed a shape around the world, giving it “the same point vision, as in “the Matrix””. The system allowed him to see the Christmas lights, dancing in his house in Canada, in the same year.
Unfortunately, the system went down after a couple of weeks. And when William Dobel, the inventor of this technology died in 2004, he left almost no documentation, so technicians are unable to repair the system Neumann. In 2010 the system was removed surgically, and Neumann again became totally blind.
Bionic leg controlled by thought
Driven by the power of thought the leg was the first to use Zach Wouter in 2012, a software engineer from Seattle, who amputated his leg above the knee in 2009. Technology that converts brain signals into physical motion, is called TMR (Targeted Muscle Reinnervation) was created in 2003 for upper limb prostheses. But the prosthesis Wouter was somewhat revolutionary, because for the first time replaced the leg.
In 2012, Zach Wouter overcame 2,100 steps to the Willis tower in Chicago with the help of his prosthetic legs. It took him 53 minutes and 9 seconds.
The bebionic hand
Company manufacturing prosthetic bebionic creates the most advanced prosthetic hand. Individual motors in each joint move each arm independently. To aid in daily use at bebionic there are 14 pre-defined schema capture. Highly sensitive engines vary the speed and power capture in real time — they are quite delicate, so the user could hold the egg between forefinger and thumb, and durable enough to withstand up to 45 pounds.
The bebionic hand has become commercially available in 2010. Over the next seven years model was only improved in terms of battery life, flexibility and software.
Project Eyeborg
Filmmaker from Toronto, Rob Spence decided to replace the missing right eye prosthesis, equipped with a video camera with wireless data transfer. Thanks to a partnership with RF involved in the development of wireless data devices, and the group of electrical engineers, Spence made a prosthetic shell for the eyes, which could fit quite a lot of electronics in a confined space.
The camera can record up to 30 minutes of footage before the battery is fully discharged. Spence used the footage of his prosthetic eyes, in the documentary Deus Ex: The Eyeborg Documentary.
Are you ready to become a cyborg?
Six technologies that will make you a true cyborg now
Ilya Hel