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If you could enhance yourself with some robotic accessory or implant, what would it be?
cy·borg – ˈsīˌbôrg/ – noun
a fictional or hypothetical person whose physical abilities are extended beyond normal human limitations by mechanical elements built into the body
This month we asked our Robotics by Invitation experts to tell how they would use robotics to enhance themselves. Here’s what they have to say …
There are two kinds of cyborgs – those that have broken the skin, and those that have not. Iron Man comes to mind as a cyborg of the second category, in that he can remove his enhancement (save for that pacemaker, of course). Being able to fly would be great, but we have planes. A hardshell carapace would be fun if I was into doing things like running into walls and falling from buildings. Though I have little super-hero ambition I do think there’s something that Iron Man has that I’d like, and that’s J.A.R.V.I.S., Tony Stark’s A.I. assistant …
As a researcher in robotics, I tend to cringe whenever someone asks how long it will take until people start to see terminator-like robots on the streets. It’s a fun question to think about, but it is often asked with all too much seriousness, as though the world with terminators is the inevitable future that lies ahead of us. But when I was asked this month’s Robotics by Invitation question, I gladly put on my imagination hat …
The potential of robotic implants is limitless, but I am not interested in super-human powers. Instead, I’d be happy with human powers, and in particular the ability to remember. Growing up, I would read a used book and then sell it back to the store with the mistaken notion that I had copied the book into “the vault” of my mind …
Have your own ideas you’d like to share? Leave a comment below!
tags: c-Politics-Law-Society, Culture and Philosophy, cyborgs, entertainment, ethics
