1. Neil Harbisson – World first official cyborg
Neil Harbisson is an artist, musician and performer and who is to be claimed as the first official cyborg in the world. He wears an eyeborg which help him available to “hear” colors.
Harbisson was born with the disability of achromatopsia, a condition that only allows him to see in black and white. The disability was a trouble to his art performing and therefore his early assignment in his fine art studying are only in black, white and gray.
Yet, Neil’s destiny changed in 2003 after he attended a lecture of cybernetics, particularly on sensory extensions via cybernetics, given by Adam Montandon, a Plymouth University student. He then found it interesting, soon two of them have became friends and started the eyeborg project. What they developed consists of a camera, mounted on Harbisson’s head, that picks up colors and converts them into sound waves
By memorizing the different frequencies, Harbisson became the first person in history to hear colors.
The eyeborg was further developed that allows Harbisson to perceive three hundred and sixty color hues through varying frequencies.
Harbisson is authorized as the first official cyborg as he can include with his eyeborg in his passport photo. Harbisson states that he became a cyborg when the union between his organism and cybernetics had created new neuronal tissue in his brain that allowed him to perceive color.
www.wix.com/eyeborg. 2011, neil-harbisson/about, 15 Mar2011, <http://www.wix.com/eyeborg/neil-harbisson#!about>
2. RoboCop
RoboCop was a movie in 1987 about a cyborg Detroit policeman. The robocop, Alex J. Murphy was formerly Detroit Police Officer then turned to a cyborg police after being murdered by crime gang.
Murphy lost all his memories after he had been turned into cyborg as his brain was combined with computer with programs and commands of defeating criminals. Furthermore, he was also rebuilt with certain weapons and “Data Spike”, a machine like mini-computer which available him to check opponents’ data and got updated from police stations’ database system.
The source below has given the brief description of the RoboCop and mainly examined the relation between human and machine. The last part of the source is most related to the topic which is discussing whether Murphy should be claimed to be a human or a robot.
Murphy was a cyborg which his organism (especially his brain) was turned into electronic and machines, acted under the control of programs and commons. Yet, finally he “decided” to get his memories back which the action is under his personnel wills. It was a kind of concept that human can control machine, believing that we can win to take control of machine even further development of cyborgs in the cyber age.
ww.ncu.edu.tw, National Central University, “Robocop”, 15 Mar 2011, <http://www.ncu.edu.tw/~eng/FilmCenter/database/art&ideology/robocop/robocop.htm>
3. Artificial Vision for the Blind
The article is about a new machine development can help blindness people to have vision by implanting into one’s brain. William Dobelle has designed a three-part system: a miniature video camera, a signal processor, and the brain implants. The camera, mounted on a pair of eyeglasses, captures the scene in front of the wearer. The processor translates the image into a series of signals that the brain can understand, then sends the information to the implant. The picture is fed into the brain and, if everything goes according to plan, the brain will "see" the image.
The system is called sensory substitution devices which offer user vision by capturing image into electronic signals and then transfer to the backside of the human brain which consist of visual cortex.
This new cybersense developed to help blindness to see which a new technology to help people with disability is again. That is new cyborg technology may help to solve the disable problems of human being which sounds good to the world. Yet, what coming up would be the moral issues brought by these latest development. Would these cyborg expansions besides from enhancing human’s abilities and bringing new threat to our life is difficult to be counted.
Meijer Peter, “Artificial Vision for the Blind”, seeingwithsound.com 2011, 15 Mar 2011, <http://www.seeingwithsound.com/etumble.htm>
4. Cyborg Soldiers
Just like what had discussed in the previous source of news, cyborg not only to solve disability problem but can also enhancing the personnel ability of soldiers. The source is sharing the idea of putting cyborg technology to military usage.
It firstly mentioned how cyborg and cybernetic organism are now being commonly used in our daily life, such as GPS tracking system inserted in human or animals. As our cyber development grows everyday and therefore putting it into the battlefield may no longer only happened in fictions or films.
The article has mentioned several programs or projects which are about cyborg soldiers under examination with possibility. One of it is similar to the system of robocop which is by implanting the new technology that contains CPU and sensors into armies’ brain, which can enhance the using of human’s brain, allow soldiers to update information from the controlling center and for tracking armies’ location.
The development and improvement of man-machine interface perhaps happened in everywhere which undoubtedly can enhance military power. Yet, it is again the question of moral issue, whether we need these advanced technologies in the age of asking for peace. Besides, the larger the power, the stronger the damage to our communities, that is uneasy to be estimated.
www.tacticalwarfightergear.com,” Cyborg Soldiers - Military Soldier Cyborgs - Digital destiny, or Prophetic Holocaust?” 15 Mar 2011, <http://www.tacticalwarfightergear.com/tacticalgear/catalog/Cyborg_Soldiers.php>
5. Cyborgs and Space
This article written by Manfred E. Clynes and Nathan S. Kline is to discuss how human being can explore more to the outside world with collaboration of the cyborg technology.
According to the paper, writers believe that man-machine development can break the upper limit of man’s survival in different area. They mentioned that living things in the Earth biologically consist of Homeostatic mechanisms which allow them to live in specific area like human would breath and living on lands; fish need water and therefore active in sea but not land. Here, the new technology can turn the trend that making us living in different field is no longer being insurmountable. Writers had discussed how human’s homeostatic mechanism can be ungraded through man-machinery system, normal biological organism no longer be the barrier of living in Space that human being willing to explore since past history. For example, human rely on respiration to survive, which is the difficulty in staying alive in the outer Space. Yet, cyborg can help and function well in the situation instead of living relies on natural organism.
Clynes, Manfred E. and Kline, Nathan S, “Cyborgs and Space”, www.scribd.com, 15 Mar 2011, <http://www.scribd.com/doc/2962194/Cyborgs-and-Space-Clynes-Kline?autodown=pdf>
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