Is There Any Chips Or Technology Invented That Can Repair Our Bodies

Photographer and artist Chen Human was a CNN Style guest editor. She commissioned a series of features on visual linguistic communication and imagining the future. Dazzler is a new section of CNN Manner.

From tribal piercings to the figurative tattoos of prehistory, humans have been modifying their bodies for millennia. But advances in prosthetics, implants and bioengineering are assuasive united states of america to alter ourselves in new and unprecedented ways -- not only to beautify or overcome deficiencies, but to enhance and exceed our current capabilities.

Below, bionic creative person Viktoria Modesta, bio-hacker Amal Graafstra and the world's first recognized cyborg, Neil Harbisson, describe, in their words, how and why they've called to transform their bodies.

All iii defy categorization and eschew the widely-used term "body-hacker." But whatever the title -- bio-hackers, neuro-hackers, futurists or otherwise -- this ever-growing community is challenging the very notion of what it means to be human.

Viktoria Modesta, bionic pop creative person, futurist

Viktoria Modesta is a "bionic artist" whose work explores the intersection of art, science, music, technology and design. She is a fellow at MIT Media Lab and has performed at museums, festivals, fashion weeks and the London Paralympic Games. Her work, which includes the viral hit "Epitome," challenges our notions of power and identity.

Viktoria Modesta, wearing her prosthetic limb, "Spike." Credit: Lukazs Suchorab

When I underwent a voluntary leg amputation at the age of 20, I was shocked to learn that doctors felt it was more acceptable for me to be in constant hurting and for my whole body to suffer, than information technology was to have my damaged leg removed and replaced with an bogus i. That process highlighted an unhealthy obsession with how we value the biological trunk.

We place with our bodies as what defines who we are. Simply going through the decision to dismember gave me a deeper sense of cocky. It made me curious about how we can transcend this rigid view -- to approach the body in a creative style and take more care with the things nosotros create.

My principal motivation has e'er been almost raising the bar on standards and expectations, which I have always found offensively low for women -- especially those with disabilities. As a kid, adults looked at me every bit if I was destined for nothing, which I found really puzzling. I felt strong and imaginative, and I never identified with that image of being incapable.

My view of prosthetics has undergone an evolution.

At ane point, I saw information technology every bit a form of conservancy -- and a class of feminism -- to exist able to have charge of my body and choose what my leg looks similar. Afterward my offset few prosthetics, it became all about how they can be an art form and a statement of expression and fashion.

"My main motivation has always been about raising the bar on standards and expectations, which I have always found offensively low for women -- particularly those with disabilities." Credit: Lukazs Suchorab

Well-nigh of the artificial fine art limbs I own result from a collaboration with the Alternative Limb Project. Crystal, a prosthetic encrusted with Swarovski crystals, was created for the Paralympic Games' closing anniversary; Fasten, a black lacquered, geometric prosthetic; and Light which contains LEDs, both featured in my viral music video "Image." By working with tech-facing artists and designers, I am at present developing many conceptual projects fusing prosthetics, fashion, musical instruments and emerging technologies.

Nowadays it seems that the prosthetics space is changing from a bones medical industry to a consumer one, and it'due south existence infiltrated past designers and engineers from other fields.

Medical assistive devices are becoming more like any other artful and technological features institute in our lives. From the things I have seen in development, it may be increasingly common to have internal sensors that can projection information from inside the body, uniting all forms of tech wearables.

Whether it'south clothing that monitors your health, bionic limbs controlled by the power of thought, or robotic attire that responds to the environment, we are heading for a neuro-continued, expressive future where applied science will exist an intimate extension of our selves.

We are all interfacing with technology. It might be for different purposes like medicine, lifestyle, art or simply a manifesto, merely this segregation is just 1 of those human illusions.

It doesn't thing whether you identify equally a cyborg or transhumanist, or if y'all're an amputee, gamer, or older person kitted out with medical tech within your torso. Technologically advanced human being bodies are the futurity, and the future is already here.

For me, fusing my body with engineering feels like a philosophical exploration of humanity. It is art.

Neil Harbisson, cyborg and designer of bogus senses

Neil Harbisson is the world's first legally recognized cyborg. He has an antenna implanted in his skull which transposes colors into audible vibrations. Since 2022, Harbisson has run Cyborg Foundation , an online platform dedicated to researching and developing artificial senses, promoting cyborg art and defending cyborg rights.

Neil Harbisson is the globe'due south first legally recognized cyborg. Credit: Lars Norgaard

I ascertain what I do every bit neuro-hacking rather than "biohacking" or "bodyhacking" because my ultimate aim is to change the heed. Simply, in order to practice so, I accept to change my torso.

During my studies at art higher, I became interested in sensing things that I couldn't otherwise sense -- which meant colour (I was diagnosed with achromatopsia, or complete color-blindness, as a child).

Using technology, I co-created an antenna -- that I have implanted to this twenty-four hours -- which allows me to perceive colors. The antenna senses color frequencies, which accomplish me as different audible vibrations. Information technology was chaotic at start because, as an artificial sense, information technology took longer for my brain to process. I couldn't tell the colors apart, and information technology took me many months -- and a lot of memorization -- to actually sympathize and name the colors.

Only slowly, after many months, the process became automatic. My brain began to transform sensory input into perception. My sense of what's cute has changed as well. Now, experiences that I normally wouldn't have found stimulating -- like walking down a supermarket aisle -- are. In an aisle, at that place are lots of different vibrations of colors that, to me, are very flattering.

Neil Harbisson developed a sensor that could allow him to "hear" colors. Credit: Lars Norgaard

This project is artistic in intent. Because fine art has no rules, laws or boundaries, I experience like in that location is a lot of liberty when you contextualize a project in art. It allows me to think freely nearly what I want and how I want it. In this case, I'yard not trying to solve a problem, I'm trying to explore alternate realities and solve my curiosity towards color.

The purpose of the Cyborg Foundation, which I co-founded in 2022, is to create senses and organs that aren't traditionally human.

Whereas the medical field usually focuses on creating -- recreating -- pre-existing senses and torso parts, the foundation focuses on innovating new ones. For case, my fellow co-founder, Moon Ribas, has implanted seismic sensors in her feet so that whenever there'south an earthquake in the world or a moonquake on the Moon, she feels it in her trunk.

Another artist, Manel Muñoz, has biometric ears that can perceive changes in weather. And and so in that location is Kai Landre, who is developing a sensor that allows him to feel cosmic rays. By adding these new senses, we can reveal realities that already exist in nature, simply that the human body or brain cannot yet perceive. The teams working on these projects all come from different backgrounds. At that place are artists, designers, doctors, computer scientists -- multiple fields collaborating to create new senses.

Most people recall these creations aren't necessary for us to role. That's because for thousands of years we, as a species, have been irresolute the planet rather than our bodies in order to survive. Just I think that'southward the wrong approach.

People might say they don't need more senses, simply at night they plough on the lights. But if humans actually had dark vision, we wouldn't have to create bogus low-cal. Instead of using ac when it's hot, or heaters when information technology's cold, couldn't we but adjust the temperature of our bodies? We should expect to designing and irresolute ourselves.

Amal Graafstra, invisible bio-hacker

Since 2005, Amal Graafstra has had multiple chips, RFID tags and even a magnet implanted into his easily, artillery and upper body. He is the founder of Dangerous Things , a bio-hacking business firm, and VivoKey , a digital identity platform aiming to make secure implants accessible to everyday consumers.

None of Amal Graafstra'south implants are visible. An implant in his left manus allows him to unlock passwords. Credit: Andrea Hartwig

I've always been fascinated past technology. When I started doing IT for a medical dispensary, I began to see the healthcare arrangement'south inner workings -- how doctors are simply mechanics, and in terms of how we diagnose, care for and fix information technology, the body is just a automobile.

This feel removed the mystique of medicine. It too eroded the thought that the skin was some sort of sacred barrier. Even though chip implants are safer than ear piercings, people tend to take an "ick" reaction to them, while molar fillings and breast implants are totally acceptable. The difference has zilch to do with the device or implant procedure, it's applications that drive adoption.

"Bio-hacking" is an umbrella term meaning anything from DNA hacking to bionics to uncomplicated lifestyle changes. The term "hack" has a negative connotation, but it'south powerful when you understand that it actually means an unconventional approach or solution. All good, efficient hacks become mundane -- they're no longer a hack, they're just how things are done.

If an implant is designed well -- in other words, it'due south frictionless, management-less and y'all give it as much idea equally you do your kidneys (in other words, none at all) -- then it's part of yous. Information technology's not a tool that yous've picked up like a smartphone, it's really changing your capabilities as a man. That'south philosophically, fundamentally and, as I'yard sure we're destined to see, legally different from whatever tool.

An 10-ray of Amal Graafstra's hands reveal his implants. One of them helps him unlock doors without keys. Credit: Amal Graafstra

Fear of technology is rampant. The fact that my augmentations are internal -- they're not visible -- definitely helps in terms of my daily interactions. I don't typically have to worry about stigma or prejudice from the un-augmented. The typical visual cues that would normally betray the fact I'm "dissimilar" are just not in that location. Near "bio-hackers" can cull to disclose their augmentations or decide to go along them private.

I call back a synaptic brain-computer interface is kind of the holy grail. Imagine nosotros had constructed synapses that could dock and exchange neurotransmitter molecules with organic synapses. We could pay a digital neural service to fire up a hundred billion extra neurons to think through problems, then shut them down once we're done. It would intellectually complimentary the states, every bit a species, from the confines of biology.

The constant struggle to raise our capabilities is the very definition of humanity. When we're literally able to digitally expand our minds, we will brainstorm transcending the human condition.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/style/article/designing-bodies-future/index.html

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