A colorblind artist had an ‘eyeborg’ antenna implanted directly into his skull to allow him to ‘hear’ color, and his friend had implants implanted in her feet to allow him to ‘feel’ earthquakes.
The two are “transhumanists,” a growing movement of people who hope to add new abilities to their bodies using technology; Elon Musk claims that technology like his Neuralink implant could improve human memory or even allow humans to live forever as man-machines. hybrids.
The rapid evolution of artificial intelligence has sparked new interest in the idea of surgically modified humans.
In a new documentary coming out this year, Cyborg, Neil Harbisson, the world’s first legally recognized cyborg thanks to his colorful hearing implant, says, “This is happening!” and he hopes that technology will allow humans to “self-design” their bodies.
The new film is released later this year (First Born Films)
Neil Harbisson, the world’s first legally recognized cyborg thanks to his colored hearing implant (First Born Films)
Hrbisson advocates for ‘non-human’ identities (First Born Films)
Director Carey Born said she had heard of a ‘cyborg’ who had been surgically altered to hear color, emailed Harbisson and decided to make a documentary about ‘transhumanists’, believing it is important that technology not fall into the wrong hands.
Born said: “Neil is completely color blind, so he wanted to have a sense of color and spoke to a technologist called Adam Montandon to create a device that would translate color combinations into sound.
‘You can hear the color: it has been tested.
‘There are many people who don’t believe it, but I absolutely believe it’s true. She designed it herself, deciding how the frequencies should align with which colors. We talk about it in the movie because I think it’s fascinating.”
Born believes that technologies like Neuralink should spark a debate about transhumanism; Otherwise, technologies like brain implants will be dominated by billionaires, governments, and the military.
“AI has advanced at an extraordinary speed,” says Born. ‘The people around Neil are very interested in biohacking and grinding.’ On the other end of the spectrum, you have people like Elon Musk who are pioneering these ideas because they have the resources to do it.”
‘I think there are secret investigations going on behind closed doors. For 20 or 30 years we’ve been talking about AI and how it will evolve. But now it’s here. It’s here.’
Musk’s Neuralink implanted a chip in a volunteer this year, and he has said he hopes the devices can lead to a future where people can “upload” their minds into machines.
Moon has an implant that allows him to “feel” earthquakes (First Born Films)
In a post on
Believers in ‘The Singularity’ hope for the day when man merges with machine (which former Google engineer Ray Kurzweil believes could happen as early as 2045), turning people into human-machine hybrids. and potentially unlocking divine powers.
According to believers, transhumanist experiments combining man and machine will be key to this.
Musk himself has said that he believes it might be possible to “download” a human being into a robot body. He said: ‘We could download the things that we think make us so unique. Now, of course, if you’re no longer in that body, there will definitely be a difference, but as far as preserving our memories, our personality, I think we could do it.’
Biohackers and grinders (like some of Harbisson’s followers) prefer a DIY approach, often performing basic surgery on themselves.
Grinders practice extreme body modifications to enhance human capabilities; Grinders have implanted everything from computer chips to a vibrating pelvic implant called the Lovetron 9000.
Body Hacker Amal Graafstra created a “smart gun” that can only be activated if picked up by someone with an RFID chip implanted in their body.
Harbisson and his collaborator Moon have launched the Cyborg Foundation to promote the development of new technological supersenses, together with the Trans-Species Society, which aims to promote non-human identities and the freedom of self-design.
Born said: ‘Moon is a dancer and decided to have chips implanted in her hand and foot, the main one being the one in her foot that would allow her to perceive earthquakes.
‘The way it happens is that the chip connects to the Internet via Bluetooth and then on the Internet there is a website that monitors the seismic activity of earthquakes around the world.
‘This information would be transmitted to the Moon in the form of vibrations. So she is literally connected to the planet.”
This artificial hand allows you to “feel” the temperature (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne)
Other recent research hopes to offer people the ability to “feel” through artificial limbs, including the heat of another human being.
A team led by Professor Solaiman Shokur of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne created sensors in an artificial hand that can transmit sensations to a person’s limb, creating a “phantom” sensation of heat or cold.
Born says he believes it is inevitable that “transhumanist” technology will be used in one way or another.
‘Are we really heading into this sci-fi future?’ she asks. ‘Or is it possible to harness these things to actually benefit people? We need to try to anticipate this, otherwise it will be the few billionaires, the military and the politicians who make all the decisions for the rest of the species.
CYBORG: A DOCUMENTARY is coming to theaters in Fall 2024. Learn more at www.instagram.com/cyborgadocumentary