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Stories filed under: "steve mann"

DailyDirt: Cyborgs All Around Us

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Technology is becoming ever more essential in our daily lives, but as long as the devices we use are still separate things outside of our bodies, we haven’t yet fully adapted to technology. However, as technology gets a bit more advanced, it won’t seem too strange to start implanting technology in ourselves. If you wear contact lenses, maybe you think you’re a pioneer. But there are far more extreme examples, and some folks are really taking it to the next level.

• Artificial hearts have been under development for decades, but one that adjusts blood flow based on physical activity allows a 75yo Frenchman to perform everyday tasks normally — without becoming breathless or exhausted easily. The Carmat artificial heart is powered by a lithium-ion battery and contains membranes from a cow heart to improve biocompatibility. The technology has come quite a ways from the Jarvik-7 that was implanted in Barney Clark in 1982. [url]
• Transhumanists are exploring the world of do-it-yourself cyborg technologies. Some well-known cyborgs like Kevin Warwick and Steve Mann are just the tip of the iceberg of people who are willing to implant various objects/devices in their bodies. [url]
• The Cybathlon, the first international olympics specifically for athletes with prosthetics, will be held in Switzerland in 2016. There will only be six events, and unlike the traditional olympics, competitors will be encouraged to achieve superhuman abilities (if possible) with technology. [url]

If you’d like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post via StumbleUpon.

Filed Under: artificial heart, bionic, carmat, cybathlon, cyborgs, hmi, implants, jarvik-7, kevin warwick, prosthetics, steve mann, transhumanism

DailyDirt: Visions Of The Future

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Digital cameras are getting better all the time, but our natural vision only seems to degrade over time. (Almost everyone over forty years old will suffer from some kind of presbyopia.) There may be technological solutions to improving human vision, but so far, projects like Google Glass are more about augmenting vision, not necessarily improving a user’s sight. Here are just a few interesting projects working on useful eye prosthetic devices.

• Paul Bach-y-Rita is a neuroscientist working on brain plasticity, studying how various senses can be re-mapped in the brain. People with vision problems might be able to learn how to see via tongue sensations. The brain might be able to process visual information in many different ways. [url]
• A retinal implant that could allow the completely blind to perceive light and shapes is in early trials — in rats. There are several kinds of retinal implants that could potentially help people with degenerative retinal diseases, but the technology is still primitive compared to natural vision. [url]
• Sheila Nirenberg’s TED talk on eye prosthetics describes how technology could be used to help the blind see again. Nirenberg’s strategy to create software that can translate signals (from images) into input that the brain can understand could also be useful for other senses like hearing. [url]
• Steve Mann has been wearing a camera attached to his head for quite some time now — as an exploration of wearable computing. Recently, though, he was assaulted for wearing a digital camera, and he’s blogged about his experience trying to live in a society that may not be ready for people wearing personal computer vision systems. [url]

If you’d like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post.

Filed Under: blind, brain plasticity, eye, low vision, presbyopia, prosthetics, retinal implants, senses, sight, steve mann, vision, visually impaired