From Human To Cyborg: Are You Willing To Augment Your Body?
What if you could have a heat-map vision to search
through an abandoned terrain? What if you could filter out unpleasant odors of
urban decay every now and then? Can you imagine hearing ultrasounds better than
bats? And what about lifting 20 tons or having a third, bionic arm? With the
rapid advancement of technologies, the future of healthcare might not just be
about being healthy, but even augmenting our bodies and “upgrading” ourselves.
Where would you draw the line between being a human and a cyborg?
Superhuman traits in sight: perceiving colors as sounds
The
wish for a perfect human body with enhanced capabilities has been a dream for
centuries culminating in the appearance of literary and cinematic superheroes
in the collective mind. Who doesn’t want to see in the dark like Superman or
lift 12-story-high buildings as Hulk does? Now, what if we tell you that a
limited number of people already possesses unique capabilities due to
technology?
Take
the example of Neil Harbisson, an
artist born with achromatopsia or extreme colorblindness meaning he could only
see in black-and-white. At first, he received his specialized electronic eye,
his “eyeborg” to be able to render perceived colors as sounds on the musical
scale. He is capable of experiencing colors beyond the scope of normal human
perception: Amy
Winehouse is red and pink, while ringtones are green. Harbisson is considered a cyborg, which according to the usual
definition, combines organic and mech...
Source: The Medical Futurist - Category: Information Technology Authors: nora Tags: Biotechnology Cyborgization Health Sensors & Trackers artificial brain-computer interface digital tattoo exoskeleton future Healthcare implant Innovation Medicine Source Type: blogs
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