Cybernetics

Dazzle369

Not exactly cybernetics, but there's already cybernetic retinas and various other cybernetic research developments in progress.


It doesn't take a lot of imagination to see the possibilities.



What cybernetic enhancements would you have, if any?

What are the implications of cybernetic enhancements of cybernetics? (without referencing the matrix/ ghost in the shell/ terminator or any other fiction)

Drunken Butler

Didn't we just have this conversation over in the Google glass thread?

Dazzle369

=/

Rym

Sadly, it does take a lot of imagination. MOST of the discussions on this stuff on the great wide Internet seem to focus entirely on "OMG CAMERA IN GLASS" and don't even touch on the true potential.

Drunken Butler

Ann McCaffrey co-authored a series of novels called either "the Ship Who Sang Series" or "the Brain and Brawn Series" depending on who you ask. The series revolves around the idea of giving folks who are born as paraplegics or something similar the opportunity to be installed into full body "shells" with digital input and output and then have them to work as Directing intelligence for ships, cities and even planets.

The series is a little on the soft side of sci-fi, but it does touch on some of the possibilities for that kind of enhancement, and spends a little time looking at some of the social implications.

@Dazzle369 :Sorry. I didn't mean to come off as dismissive, Like my father is fond of saying "Any conversation worth having is worth having twice."

Dazzle369

@Dazzle369 :Sorry. I didn't mean to come off as dismissive, Like my father is fond of saying "Any conversation worth having is worth having twice."

Appreciated.

Lack of imagination is a problem with modern culture. That's another topic.


For the people here who do have some imagination, albeit anyone who hasn't already done so in the google glass thread. I'd like to see what unique ideas people have for cybernetics and what it could do for humanity. Good or bad.

Victor Frost

What I would like is a math co-processor that would augment my rather poor math skills , a babelfish equivalent, and a method to export visuals and audio from inside my head to usable digital formats.

InvaderREN

I would like some way to get sound/music/audio input INTO my brain, bypassing my ears.

Like a pair of virtual earphones that you can tune to a device of your choosing.

Sure, a first step *could* be some kind of advanced inner ear replacement, but I would prefer to just skip the wetware and go straight to the source.

Dazzle369

If you break that down, that's a cybernetic interface with your prefrontal cortex.

So you'll think a task to an external cpu, and that then will send you back the computed data when it's done.

So that information doesn't necessarily have to be maths. It could be just knowledge in general.

Instead of Googling, you'd just think a question, and have the answer already.

Or at least have a response enough to refine your question.

The challenge is to have a cybernetic interface sophisticated enough to communicate with all your neurons.

Then computer language that can translate your thought into understandable information.

Might make teaching obsolete. A good thing?

Dazzle369

I would some way to get sound/music/audio input INTO my brain, bypassing my ears.

Like a pair of virtual earphones that you can tune to a device of your choosing.

Sure, a first step *could* be some kind of advanced inner ear replacement, but I would prefer to just skip the wetware and go straight to the source.

I guess the advantage there, is to never need to buy headphones that didn't fit.

But things like volume control would still have to be externalised. What if by malfunction, your implant goes into overdrive and gives you brain damage?

Churba

Sadly, it does take a lot of imagination. MOST of the discussions on this stuff on the great wide Internet seem to focus entirely on "OMG CAMERA IN GLASS" and don't even touch on the true potential.

The thing is, a lot of people stray from where the line is drawn between "Glass potential" and "AR potential." There is no shortage of people who get into talking about the potential of glass, and end up straying into the impossible, at least, impossible for this system.

There is a big difference between "Being imaginative enough to figure out the potential of Google Glass" and "mentally masturbating to what amounts to science fiction", but it's one that tends to be ignored or flown straight over in any glass discussion without a second thought.

Of course, you could say "Oh, but the potential of AR and the potential of google glass are the same thing at this time", but while that's true(being the best "available" AR solution right now), that doesn't mean that Google glass is capable of performing any AR thing that one can invent, as people often do.

Dazzle369

InvaderREN

I would some way to get sound/music/audio input INTO my brain, bypassing my ears.

Like a pair of virtual earphones that you can tune to a device of your choosing.

Sure, a first step *could* be some kind of advanced inner ear replacement, but I would prefer to just skip the wetware and go straight to the source.

I guess the advantage there, is to never need to buy headphones that didn't fit.

But things like volume control would still have to be externalised. What if by malfunction, your implant goes into overdrive and gives you brain damage?

Haha, no earphones was most certainly my intention.

I assume you would have volume limiters etc, and I do not know the "elegant" solution to volume control, if nothing else, I guess you just adjust it on the source device.

Either that, or under the skin implants. Tiny little pressure sensors. Seems a bit silly if you think about it, but then again, if it works...

Drunken Butler

I want conscious control of some of my autonomic systems. Being able to dampen production of adrenaline to keep myself calm in stressful situations would be a real boon. Being able to suppress immune reactions to mitigate allergy symptoms and such would be awesome too.

InvaderREN

I want conscious control of some of my autonomic systems. Being able to dampen production of adrenaline to keep myself calm in stressful situations would be a real boon. Being able to suppress immune reactions to mitigate allergy symptoms and such would be awesome too.

Shit yes. Public speaking would be so much better if you could control heart rate, perspiration and adrenaline!

Dazzle369

The advantage of automation, is you don't have to think about anything.

The disadvantage, is when some happens that you don't want to happen, that's where you have to intervene.

What you don't want is to have to constantly think to yourself 'no adrenaline no adrenaline no adrenaline no adrenaline ...'

You want either some form of replacement system for adrenal control, that's more advanced than your biological systems, or some kind of secondary mechanism that initialises under certain conditions.

Anthony Heman

I mostly want straight upgrades. Physical perfection. Language software would be a plus.

YoshoKatana

Language software would be pretty great (even our somewhat poor current implementation). Hardware-wise, I don't care for many things. Just give me a direct, wireless neurocannula and be done with it. I can project whatever AR/VR spaces I want direct to my brain, and do I/O by switching between (or combining) virtual and meatspace nerve signals.

I don't think we'll get there for a while, though. Even our most promising neural connections aren't nanoscale yet (I'm thinking of the piezoelectric sensing aparatus used by that robotic arm which has a sense of touch).

Luke Burrage

This is my uncle:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/9926945/Bionic-eye-could-make-radical-difference-to-lives.html

I talked to him about it a few years ago and he was super excited about it. It seems like it is paying off!

Dazzle369

"We made them too fast, too strong and too smart..."

http://www.k2.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp/fusion/Janken/janken.wmv

http://www.k2.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp/fusion/Hand-eyeTracking/tracking.wmv

http://www.k2.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp/fusion/InverseCatching/catch.wmv

johndis

Cyber Taint

Forte

I just want something in my brain that will help me keep visual count on all of the "numbers" in my life to satiate my obsessive-compulsive nature. I'd love to be able to see how many stairs I've walked up and down, how many steps I've taken, how many times I use my right hand in comparison to my left hand when performing daily tasks, how many times my fingers tap the keys on my keyboard, etc. My whole life would be filled with numbers, and that would be just fine with me.

Dazzle369

Pegu

Jack Draigo

I want to found a cybernetics company actually, and with all the recent advancements it looks like there might be a market soon.

I myself would probably have a cybernetic left leg, due to previous meniscus damage.

Dazzle369

There are myoelectrically controlled limbs or devices for amputees or fully abled bodied people, which takes impulses from muscle movement and is translated through programming to movement. Limitatation to this is the lag between seeing and making the 'command'.

The next stage up is targeted muscle reinnervation in which reads impulses directly from nerve cells. Which allows for a higher resolution of fine control. Especially good for dexterity. The problem with TMR is lack of feedback. The reason we are able to do tasks efficiently with our hands is that we can teach ourselves by looking, then repeat on feel alone.

This is where artificial skin comes in.

http://www.technologyreview.com/news/533106/artificial-skin-that-senses-and-stretches-like-the-real-thing/

Beyond that there's power issues, and weight, processing power.