<head>
Cyborg Antenna
The Cyborg Antenna is a sensory system created to extend color perception. It is implanted and osseointegrated in Neil Harbisson's head and it sprouts from within his occipital bone. It has been permanently attached to Harbisson's head since 2004 and it allows him to feel and hear colours as audible vibrations inside his head, including colours invisible to the human eye such as infrareds and ultraviolets. The antenna also allows internet connection and therefore the reception of colour from other sensors or from satellites.
[2004]
[Source]Time Sense
Time Sense is a wearable sensory headband which allows the wearer to feel the passing of the 24-hour clock around the circumference of the head. As the day progresses, a tiny heat sensation passes the length of the headband. This device is an example of an ‘exosense’, an external sensory organ. This means it is designed to be worn and felt consistently, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. The constant stream of sensations will allow Neil to develop a new form of instinctual relationship with the time of the day.
[2016]
[Source]Brain Computer Interface
Neuralink is an American neurotechnology company that is developing implantable brain–computer interfaces (BCIs) based in Fremont, California. Founded by Elon Musk and a team of seven scientists and engineers, Neuralink was launched in 2016 and was first publicly reported in March 2017. Neuralink's device has a chip that processes and transmits neural signals that could be transmitted to devices like a computer or a phone. The probes are inserted into the brain through an automated process performed by a surgical robot. The company hopes that a person would potentially be able to control a mouse, keyboard or other computer functions like text messaging with just their thoughts.
[2016]
[Source]Human Brain Project
The Human Brain Project (HBP) is a large ten-year scientific research project, based on exascale supercomputers, that aims to build a collaborative scientific research infrastructure to allow researchers across Europe to advance knowledge in the fields of neuroscience, computing, and brain-related medicine. The Human Brain Project is set out to simulate the brain's 86 billion neurons and 100 trillion synapses using a network of computers. [Image: David Vintier]
[2013]
[Source]Brain Hack
Brain Hacker Andrew Vladimirov collects and analyses brain data, stimulating his own brain or those of volunteers using different methods and protocols. He believes he can reduce fatigue, enhance concentration and improve memory by firing a laser at different parts of the brain. [Image: David Vintier]
[2013]
[Source]Immortality Roadmap
Alexey Turchin is a life extensionist. He is the author of several roadmaps to help humans face future threats including The roadmap to Personal Immortality, The Map of Alien Risks and How to Survive the End of the Universe. Turchin, a commited advocate for digital immortality, believes that in the future, super intelligent AI will be able to reconstruct a model of any human personality based on informational traces. Turchin is constantly collecting and recording data about himself, from DNA in his toenail clippings to details about his dreams, with a view that this information will be assimilated into a future self. [Image: David Vintier]
[2015]
[Source]Cosmic Sense
Kai Landre is a musician who can hear the universe. Not metaphorically, but rather literally. He has a 6th sense, which he chose and designed himself; the Cosmic Sense. This cybernetic new organ allows him to perceive Cosmic Rays and makes him a cyborg. His goal is to go beyond his physical limitations and discovering the infinite possibilities that exist when leaving behind all the conditions to which humans are tied.
[2020]
[Source]<eye>
EyeTap Digital Eye Glass
An EyeTap is a concept for a wearable computing device that is worn in front of the eye that acts as a camera to record the scene available to the eye as well as a display to superimpose computer-generated imagery on the original scene available to the eye. This structure allows the user's eye to operate as both a monitor and a camera as the EyeTap intakes the world around it and augments the image the user sees allowing it to overlay computer-generated data over top of the normal world the user would perceive.
[1984]
[Source]VR Goggles
Hiroto Ikeuchi uses functioning electronics, like VR Goggles and builds and modifies these objects for a cyberpunk style.
[2021]
[Source]Eyeborg
Toronto-based filmmaker Rob Spence decided to replace his missing right eye with a prosthetic equipped with a wirelessly-transmitting video camera. Thanks to a partnership with RF wireless design company and a group of electrical engineers, Spence created a prosthetic eye shell that could house enough electronics in such a small, confined space. The camera can record up to 30 minutes of footage before depleting the battery. [Image: David Vintier]
[2005]
[Source]Artificial Vision
In his 20s, Jens Naumann was involved in two separate accidents that shot metal shards into his eyes, causing him to lose his vision. In 2002, at the age of 37, Naumann participated in a clinical trial performed at the Lisbon-based Dobelle Institute in which a television camera was connected straight to his brain, bypassing his faulty eyes. Dots of light combined to form shapes and outlines of the world around him, giving him "this kind of dot matrix-type vision." The system enabled him to see Christmas lights outlining his home in Canada that year. Unfortunately, the system failed only after a couple of weeks. And when William Dobelle, the original inventor of the technology, passed away in 2004, he left behind almost no documentation, leaving technicians no instructions for how to repair Naumann's system. In 2010, Naumann had the system surgically removed, rendering him completely blind once again.
[2002]
[Source]EYEsect
The EYEsect is an experimental device that aims to recreate the experience of seeing the world like a chameleon, with two single steerable eyes.
[2011]
[Source]<ear>
Weather Sense
Manel De Aguas' weather sense allows him to feel meteorological phenomena through a pair of fins linked to two subdermal implants at the sides of his head. Temperature, pressure and humidity levels are received via bone conduction as different qualities of sound stimulation.
[2019]
[Source]Speedborg
In 2008, Moon created a speedometer glove that allowed her to perceive the exact speed of any movement around her through vibrations on her hand. She wore the glove for several months and was able to sense different speeds depending on the vibration intervals. She later transformed the glove into a pair of earrings that vibrated whenever there was presence around her. Moon travelled around Europe with her speedborg earrings to find out what the average walking speed of citizens was in different cities. The Speeds of Europe is a video dance that shows the results of her research; Londoners and Stockholm citizens for example walk at a similar average speed of approximately 6.1 km/h whereas people in Rome and Oslo walk at an average speed of 4 km/h.
[2008]
[Source]Echolocation Headphones
The Echolocation Headphones are a pair of goggles that aid human echolocation, It is designed to substitute the user’s vision augmenting our spatial awareness with sound, similar to the abilities of bats and whales. The device has both the potential to aid the visually impaired and provide sighted individuals with a new sense. [Image: David Vintier]
[2018]
[Source]Bioprinting
Bioprinting is the process of creating organic tissues (organs, bones, skin, etc.) using 3D printing techniques. While this technology is still in its earliest stages, it has the potential to completely redefine the medical industry and how we typically think of healthcare. Professor Alexander Seifalian and his team are growing noses, ears, and blood vessels in their laboratory at University College London using stem cells.
[2019]
[Source]Echolocation
Echolocation is composed by two ultra sound movement detectors placed at the back of the ears and two microdermal implants in the cheeks that vibrate depending on proximity levels. One of those guys is artist Joe Dekni. The artificial organ was based on the echolocation sonar used by bats to identify objects in their environment and is meant to allow Dekni to feel the vibrations of his surroundings. The operation took place at the Transpecies Society space in Barcelona and was part of a performance piece that also included an audiovisual installation.
[2018]
[Source]<mouth>
Transdental Communication System
The Transdental Communication System is a bluetooth tooth composed with a small vibrator installed in two different mouths to allow communication via morse code from mouth to mouth.
[2016]
[Source]AirMorphologies
AirMorphologies is the concept for a voice control pneumatic wearable device for people living in an air-polluted environment. AirMorphologies provides soft and elastic material with a modular approach designed for diverse needs. The goal is to rethink the future of human body shape and the social space around us. The toxicology of breathing Air pollution is a problem for much of the developing world and is believed to kill more people worldwide than AIDS, malaria, breast cancer, or tuberculosis.
[2019]
[Source]<neck>
Sharing Senses
Nina Maskiell created the concept of a shared sensory organ which was explored through sound and vibration against the skin. The work was an interactive device, designed to be experienced by two people at a time. The audience felt frequencies ranging from 100 -10 000 hz at different points on their body, as well as feeling an ultrasound. For Nina, this work created a space to reconsider the limits of human perception and opened up new possibilities in the exploration of technology as a tool for deeper connection and new sensory experiences.
[2018]
[Source]<upperbody>
North Sense
North Sense is a small silicone gadget attached to the chest, which gives its wearer the ability to sense which direction they face.
[2018]
[Source]Anthropomorphic Robots
Neurobotics manufacture individual made-to-order anthropomorphic robots by copying the appearance from a real person or recreating the appearance from a photograph or portrait. [Image: David Vintier]
[2017]
[Source]<arm>
Bionic Arm
After an accident that left him a double amputee, James Young turned to bionics to redesign his body. Obsessed with the Metal Gear Solid, he worked with gaming giant Konami and prosthetic sculptor Sophie De Oliveira Barata to develop an advanced bionic arm inspired by the computer game. The $60,000 carbon fibre limb is part art project, part engineering marvel. The limb is fitted with a 3-D printed hand that is controlled by sensors that detect minute muscle movements in Young’s back. The arm also features a USB phone charger, Twitter connectivity, a torch, a heart rate monitor and a small drone. [Image: David Vintier]
[2016]
[Source]Ear Arm
The Australian technical artist Stelarc implanted an additional ear on his forearm. It is made from cartilage cells grown in the lab. He planned to apply it to his face, but surgeons advised against it. The ear carries a microphone that is connected to the Internet, so everyone can hear what it "hears." [Image: David Vintier]
[2010]
[Source]<heart>
Heart Clock
The Heart Clock was created as a way to externalise Lombarte's heartbeats through the passage of time. Our hearts are like clocks, so he wanted to literally transform each heartbeat to a tick of a clock. This clock moves according to his heart rate: if his heart goes faster: time flies and if his heart goes slower: time stretches. He furthered his exploration by creating a cyborg heart that allows him to send his heartbeats to an NFT via Wi-Fi signal by connecting it to three electrodes attached to his body.
[2021]
[Source]<lung>
Hyperlung
Hyperlung is a project that explores the potential of sci-fi speculation as a design tool with which to examine our present reality, imagining alternative scenarios and designing within them. Developed in the context of the Covid crisis, Hyperlung takes on mechanical breathing systems as mediums through which to question human-technology relationships and dichotomies such as the natural/artificial or the inside/outside. It takes shape as an artificial lung aimed to regulate breathing through the mobile phone, which tracks individuals’ carbon footprint and translates them into consumption patterns, structured by population clusters such as cities or even countries. Its final goal is to expand the users' own self-perception, by making them look at their own breathing from a planetary perspective.
[2021]
[Source]<uterus>
Pregnancy Sense
To share the experience of pregnancy, Moon and Quim created a cyborg organ that consists in Moon wearing a belt around her belly with ultrasounds sensor, like a fetal doppler (ultrasonic device used to detect fetal heartbeats) connected to phone that is making a call to Quim’s phone. Quim hears the heartbeat of the baby and the fluids of the amniotic sac, via bone conducted headphones. So in a way, Quim is digitally pregnant as Moon is biologically pregnant.
[2021]
[Source]<hand>
RFID-Chip
Kevin Warrick is a pioneering professor in Cybernetics and considered by many as the worlds first cyborg. Kevin instigated a series of experiments involving the neuro-surgical implantation of a device into the nerves of his left arm in order to link his nervous system directly to a computer. This enabled him to have a symbiotic connection with a robotic hand. He could control the hand from his own brain signals from anywhere in the world, as well as sense what the robot hand was feeling. [Image: David Vintier]
[1998]
[Source]Skinterface
Skinterface is a wearable suit that enables two-way physical interactions in the virtual world. It is equipped with sophisticated actuators, which convert virtual interaction into physical feeling. [Image: David Vintier]
[2016]
[Source]Magnetic Implants
Tim Cannon has had a variety of body modification implants, including a radio-frequency identification (RFID) tag in his hand and magnetic implants in a finger, wrist, and tragus, causing him to be labelled a cyborg by media outlets including Business Insider, Newsweek, The Awl, and others. Because of legal and ethical restrictions on the types of surgery that can be done on humans, most of these modifications cannot be done by doctors or anesthetists. Instead they are done by body modification experts or on a "DIY" basis.
[2013]
[Source]Bionic Drummer
Jason Barnes is an American amputee drummer with a robotic arm. Having started out a career with a music band, in 2012 Barnes lost one of his arms in an accident. After the amputation, Barnes created his own prosthetic arm in an attempt to be able to play the drums; he was accepted into the drumming program at the Atlanta Institute of Music.
[2012]
[Source]Magnetic Hand
Rin Raeuber has had magnets implanted under skin of their hands (one under the fingertip of the right hand, one on the edge of the left hand). They can pick up bottle caps, screws and spoons, and detect magnetic fields. [Image: David Vintier]
[2015]
[Source]<lowerbody>
NeuroRex
NeuroRex is a brain-controlled exoskeleton that helps restore the quality of life and independence for people with physical disabilities. The brain-machine interface system reads the brain activity of the user and extracts information about motor intent and uses that information to control the powered lower-limb exoskeleton, enabling the user to walk. [Image: David Vintier]
[2013]
[Source]<leg>
Leg Prostheses
Hugh Herr is a professor at MIT and an enthusiastic mountaineer. He has two leg prostheses because his two lower legs had to be amputated from the knees from freezing cold. This does not prevent him from continuing to climb, but was also a start for him to delve into biomechanics.
[2011]
[Source]<foot>
Exoskeleton Boots
A team of engineers at Stanford University has created a unique pair of boots that can make you walk faster by putting in less energy and effort. These special exoskeleton boots are constructed using a carbon fiber frame, a motor, and a pair of shoes. The boots could assist leg movement in individuals going through leg injuries or mobility impairment issues. The motor winds a cable that flexes the foot, providing assistance when the person pushes off the ground during walking. There are several assistive devices with similar designs, but what sets this device apart is the maximum assistance it offers.
[2022]
[Source]