The bionic body 2.0... the "eyeborg"

[Prrkitty]

http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/04/08/bionic.body/index.html

Quote: Spence, who lost an eye in a childhood accident, is in the process of installing a tiny camera into his prosthetic eye. He announced his plan last year, and now he's a step closer to fulfilling his aim.

"It's been an expensive and laborious process to make this thing. But fortunately we have leveraged the right people and have a working prototype," he says.

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One step closer to a cyborg. I'm not sure how I feel about this issue. Enabling someone to see/walk/etc again is one thing. Enhancing something that someone already has/can use... is another.

Should a line be drawn concerning these enhancements? Yes I realize it's someone's choice to do what he/she wants to to their body. But shouldn't a line be drawn to keep excessive under control?

[Shazza Dani]

Draw no lines; I want telescopic sight!

[Russ]

Wow. This is amazing! Being able to use a camera for your eyes is a wonderful idea. We are on the verge of a scientific breakthrough in technology, mark my words.

[The_Amaster]

Honestly? I'm totally for Bionics. Definitely for helping the handicapped, and maybe even for recreational use.

[biggiy05]

and maybe even for recreational use.

The military will get it's hand on this before it ever goes for recreational use. I'm sure they already have something like this in the works that they are trying to advance on.

[Modus Ponens]

Even if a line should be drawn at all (and I'm not so sure it should), nothing this guy is doing comes anywhere near it. He's just putting a camera in something that happens to sit inside his otherwise-useless eye socket. I can't think of a reason he shouldn't do that.

[Aliem]

He loosely describes bionics as any device that extends, repairs or enhances natural sensory abilities. For him, that includes everything from cochlear implants that provide deaf people with a sense of sound to the wireless gadgets people use today to talk on their mobile phones hands free.Huh. So those guys who wear those bluetooth earpieces are actually bionic men. Wow, Colonol Steve Austin kind of seems like a waste of six million dollars.

In any case, I'm all for bionics. Hell, if I were deaf or blind, I know I'd like to hope I could someday regain those lost senses by some means. Plus, being bionic just sounds badass.

[MasterSwordUltima]

So wait...he has a camera in his eye? So that means...he can watch what he's watching? Or other people can see what he see's? Is this camera hooked up to his optic nerves and actually transmit the data to his brain and back?

In other news, if I had a hole where my eye was, I would keep money in there. Then when I had to pay for food or something, I would take it out of my eye-socket, and gross them out. After doing that, three times tops, I would probably go for bionics.

Also, Bionic Commando, ftw!

[Archangel]

Bionic Commando. Damn, I remember that game. It's a freaking legend. Any how, looks like were all going to make Ghost in the Shell a reality. And hell, it's about fucking time.

:D

I love bionics, I want a bionic crapper.

[Xyvol]

A documentary filmmaker based in Toronto, Spence wants to use the wireless camera in his eye to make films and examine where "recorded image and video intersect with humanity."

Sounds like he'll just have a camera in is eye, instead of carrying it on his shoulder. Sounds cool, but I'm sure someone will have a problem when they find out, and make him stamp "Smile, you're on camera!" across his forehead.


The device, which is still in clinical trials, consists of a camera mounted on a pair of glasses. Captured images are transmitted to electrodes implanted in the retina, which then send images to the brain. The device gives patients the ability to perceive patterns of light, which are then interpreted as images. This sounds a little closer to the bionic path. Just gotta get that camera inside.

Ghost in the Shell type cyborgation sounds cool. It's gonna suck tho when someone hacks your eye! (or your brain)
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c297/Xyvol/Laughing-man.gif

[Aegix Drakan]

Dude, that souds AWESOME. Props to the guy for this!

Honestly, As long as we put some king of restrictions on Bionics, I see no problem. I mean, yeah, we don't wan't people to be hackeble, and we don't want people chopping their legs off to get cyborb limbs, but hey! This could help a lot of people.

Oh, also. If you have cyborg limbs you should be BARRED from the olympics. I mean, seriously. At that point it would come down to who has the better parts, not who is genuinely better at the sport.

[MasterSwordUltima]

Oh, also. If you have cyborg limbs you should be BARRED from the olympics. I mean, seriously. At that point it would come down to who has the better parts, not who is genuinely better at the sport.

Isn't that what they do with NASCAR and other vehicle races? Who-ever has the better car + driver combo wins the day.


I'm diggin' the Ghost in the Shell stuff. Imagine having a MGS style codec in your ear. Oh man, awesome.

[King Aquamentus]

Yeah, the human brain and the little peripherals that come with it like eyes and ears are not all that different in function from similar man-made devices. In fact, they both process their data electronically, so literally using a camera to see is pretty much a matter of translating the data for the brain to understand it.

[The_Amaster]

All true, but we've already laid down the precedent for artificial enhancement with the whole Steroids issue. You compete with what you've been born with, and what you work for, not what you buy.