PART 1
We're going to move quickly, and if you are not disturbed by the end of this post then I have done something wrong.
See this girl?
She happens to be Tan Le, CEO of Emotiv; a company that creates headsets that read your mind.
It looks like this:
I'm not kidding. It records your signals when you think of the concept "up" for example, or "down" or "right" or "left". It takes 8 seconds to record the pattern. Then you command virtual objects in games as well as remotely controlled physical objects around you.
Check out her Ted Talk HERE, and skip to 8 min 19 seconds if you want to see the accelerated mashup of examples it has been used for.
Selling price? $300.00. Here is the web site (and all the AWESOME applications you can buy along with it!): http://emotiv.com
NEXT.
See this guy?
His name is Pierpaolo Petruzziello.
The European Union spent 3 million dollars connecting his nervous system with a robotic hand. The Lifehand Project took 5 years to complete. They connected it to his nervous system and he used nothing but his mind to move the hand and the fingers as if they were his own! The Project was successfully completed in 2009, and they have further ambitions extending beyond a hand...
If you have 3 minutes, I highly recommend you check out this Discovery Report! VIDEO
So connect the dots...
Emotiv technology combined with the LifeHand developments...what are the possibilities?
....Further down the rabbit hole...
NEXT:
This is Scott Summit.
Founder of Bespoke Innovations.
They create Custom Designer Limbs. Let me repeat that: Designer Limbs. For amputees. Would you like a Motorcycle theme? How about a soccer theme, or a henna theme? The designs are beautiful; check out the gallery when you have a chance: GALLERY
They use a 3D printer to print the limbs. Consumer 3D printers are being sold today for as low as in the hundreds of dollars (Just google "3D printers" to have a taste of what's out there now). Here's a short 3min video on how it's done: VIDEO!
Hmmm...are you connecting the dots yet?
mind controlled software and objects, including limbs, designer limbs...
"Ok now hold on" you might say to me, "I am not missing any limbs so you're losing my interest here".
Ok then, let's go further...
NEXT up is our friend Eythor Bender.
(Don't worry, I will clearly connect the dots in a moment)..
His company Ekso Bionics happens to make exoskeletons.
That's right: Exoskeletons. Not only for the disabled, but for soldiers. Want to carry 200 Pounds without tiring? Check. Want to do it without impeding your range of motion at all? Check. Here's a video of the demo: VIDEO.
It is now under military development with Lockheed Martin, while Eythor has focused on exoskeletons that allow quadriplegics to walk.
So let's add ALL of these technologies together...and what do we end up with?
Exoskeletons that can carry superhuman weight (already exists) through mind control (already exists). What other ideas come your mind? Speed, flight, strength...
The separate technologies already exist. It's just putting it all together, which we will be seeing in the coming decades.
This is happening now. This is real. Not science fiction. And it would not have been real even just a few years ago.
MIND BLOWN yet?
No?
Ok, let's move on to inner body technology.
This is Dr. Anthony Atala
His lab with the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine in North Carolina prints organs.
PRINTS ORGANS.
It takes 7 hours to print a Kidney. It looks like this:
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| There it is in his hand. |
They take cells from the patient and the printer just organizes them into the appropriate organ.
They created a bladder for Luke Masella in 2001. He was suffering from Spina Bifida, a birth defect that paralyzed his bladder...at the time they had to use an empty membrane and fill it with cells...now they're upgrading to just printing them.
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| Here is Luke, perfectly healthy 10 years after the surgery |
Pretty cool eh? They're still figuring out the Heart, since it's much more complex, but they're getting there...
And this is Dr. Stephen Oesterle, SVP at Medtronic.
He's working with the Scientific Research team to finish developing an Injectable Pacemaker.
It is this small:
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| Hint: It's the thing that's both smaller and on top of the Penny |
Neural implants already exists for several conditions. Remember, our body functions through Electricity. Chemically-induced electricity through the nerves.
Parkinson's Disease, epilepsy, dystonia, and even Depression are now being treated with neural implants that activate certain parts of the brain with electric stimulus, or blocking.
This exists now. And it's not science fiction.
...And last but not least, there is Google Glasses.
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| For those not caught up on the news: It's basically the internet. And phone. And Video. On glasses. Already in development, it will be available for consumer purchase in 2013. |
...How long will it take before it comes in this?
With the information appearing or going in front of you, all dictated by your mind whenever you need it. Instant wikipedia, anyone? (For the doubtful, check out the Apps at Emotiv that allow you to type, move around and control your desktop with your mind. One of them is even a free download. Yes, I am not kidding. Go to the link now).
As heart pacers and neural implants and artificial organs are already parts of people's bodies today, one can argue that they are as much a part of that person now as any of their other limbs, as they facilitate their ability to function normally and better.
It all comes down to this: Imagine an individual with several organs that were printed in a lab (already exists). An Exoskeleton (barely noticeable) that enhances their strength and speed beyond normal human functioning (already exists/barely noticeable part in the works). And that physical exoskeleton is mind controlled (Not existing yet...but the technology already does). With neural implants to enhance their emotional strength and bodily functioning (already exists). And designer limbs, mind controlled, if they are amputees (technology already exists).
The question to ask ourselves is...
Is this person still human?
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| Claudia Mitchell, first woman to receive a bionic arm. |
Where do we draw the line?
Would such a described Enhanced Person still be considered human? Is it fair that they be identified like everybody else? In the workforce, in the olympics, in the military, in intelligence tests...
Or should they be considered bionic individuals, with different rights that acknowledge their differences?
These questions, as well as many others, are things we are facing now. None of this existed a decade ago. Scared yet?
The answers are up to us, and will become increasingly relevant in the coming decades.
Personally, I think it's awesome, exciting and pretty cool; not something necessarily to be scared about! And it's clear that we've only barely scratched the surface...
...Food for thought.
-Frederic Limon
Stay Tuned for Part 2, where we cover a completely different aspect of the Human 2.0...with the (very) recent developments in the fields of genomics and synthetic biology!
This is fascinating!... I have mixed feelings because I love the idea of saving/improving life in general, but at the same time I guess we are being disrespectful with nature, and I mean it in particular with the organ printing aspect.
ReplyDeleteYou see... years ago we thought it would be cool to mix the best aspects of a fruit, so we could always have perfect round, red, juicy, flawless apples, tomatoes, etc... and it seemed to be a good idea, but time has proven that these alterations do have consequences in the human body (in the long term), so what are we doing?!...
Going organic. Going back to our roots, to what's natural.
So, I'm saying these new technologies are great for now, but I'm not pretty sure they're 100% safe.
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About the other tech aspects you cover on this post, I would think how much we want this just to think we are cool and capable of moving something with our mind (which I honestly think is cool) but how much is it really necessary, and worse: how much of this can be used in a negative way such as being ordered to have a microchip as a way to control our medical/official info (as some governments are planning to do), and how much can it be used to control someone else's mind.
It definitely is a coin with two sides!
ReplyDeleteAs far as the genetically modified food, I think it does not apply as a comparison because for crops specifically, it is very hard to control its spread. Whereas with biotechnology, it is a very controlled domain.
Farmers complain of chemicals spilling over their crops from other farms, the insects that travel to and from them (that survive the pesticides) carry it with them. Now, I am not an expert on this subject, but in the realm of biotechnology, there won't be people waking up suddenly with a mechanical arm without them knowing or their consent just because others are doing it. Etc.
..Or printed organs, or mind-controlling devices screwed onto their craniums without their noticing, etc. Again, it is a very controlled domain...though I can't say that about the genomics and synthetic biology issues that I will be bringing up in my next post.
As far as the printed organs, there is extremely little risk because it is used with the person's OWN cells. The body recognizes and adopts it as its own, with its own DNA and all. This means that it might actually be more safe than transplanting organs from other donors! In this way, I see it as a way to be even more faithful and facilitate to what is natural and organic--utilizing the body's own construction parts on itself :)
As far as the medical information being inserted into us, as long as it is not a mandatory thing imposed by the government I'd be fine with it. If other individuals see a value in having their medical history injected in a tiny microchip, then it definitely has its advantages as well as potential disadvantages.
As far as controlling the mind, the current technology is a "one-way" system, where the internet/other people/the "Cloud" can't get to you because it cannot give out electric impulses, it can only detect the electric patterns of the brain.
Once a technology comes out that has the ability to have a Both-Ways connection, brain-->computer and computer-->brain, THEN I think I would be MUCH more cautious and apprehensive, and individuals should use common sense to know what is safe and not safe.
It has great potential uses for paralyzed individuals.
As for the rest of us, using it for its cool factor I think is perfectly legitimate.
...so yes, just my two cents :)