Cyberware is a relatively new and unknown field (a proto-science, or more adequately a “proto-technology”). In science fiction circles, however, it is commonly known to mean the hardware or machine parts implanted in the human body and acting as an interface between the central nervous system and the computers or machinery connected to it.
More formally:
- Cyberware is a technology that attempts to create a working interface between machines/computers and the human nervous system, including the brain.
Examples of potential cyberware cover a wide range, but current research tends to approach the field from one of two different angles: interfaces or prosthetics.
History
The concept of cyberware has been around for centuries, but it is only in recent decades that it has become a reality. The first major breakthrough in cyberware came in the 1960s when researchers developed the first implantable pacemakers. These pacemakers were used to treat heart arrhythmias, and they marked the beginning of the modern era of cyberware.
Since then, there has been a rapid development of cyberware technologies. Today, there are a wide variety of cyberware devices available, including prosthetic limbs, visual implants, and neural implants.
Types of cyberware
There are many different types of cyberware, each with its own unique purpose. Some of the most common types of cyberware include:
- Prosthetic limbs: Prosthetic limbs can be used to replace damaged or missing limbs. They can be made of metal, plastic, or other materials, and they can be controlled by the user’s thoughts or by using sensors in the environment.
- Visual implants: Visual implants can restore vision to people who are blind, or they can give people superhuman vision. They work by stimulating the optic nerve with electrical signals.
- Auditory implants: Auditory implants can restore hearing to people who are deaf, or they can give people superhuman hearing. They work by stimulating the auditory nerve with electrical signals.
- Neural implants: Neural implants can be used to connect the human brain to computers, or they can be used to treat neurological disorders. They work by stimulating the brain with electrical signals.
Benefits of cyberware
Cyberware has the potential to offer a number of benefits to users. These benefits include:
- Improved quality of life: Cyberware can help people with disabilities to live more independent lives. For example, prosthetic limbs can help people with amputations to walk again, and visual implants can help people who are blind to see.
- Enhanced abilities: Cyberware can also be used to enhance human abilities. For example, neural implants can be used to improve memory, learning, and decision-making.
- New possibilities: Cyberware has the potential to open up new possibilities for human beings. For example, neural implants could be used to create a new generation of augmented humans who have superhuman abilities.
Drawbacks of cyberware
Cyberware also has some potential drawbacks. These drawbacks include:
- Risk of complications: Cyberware surgery can be risky, and there is always the possibility of complications, such as infection or rejection.
- Cost: Cyberware can be expensive, and not everyone can afford it.
- Ethical concerns: There are also a number of ethical concerns surrounding cyberware, such as the potential for discrimination and the possibility of creating a divide between those who can afford cyberware and those who cannot.
Interfaces (“headware”)
The first variety attempts to connect directly with the brain. The data-jack is probably the best-known, having heavily featured in works of fiction (even in mainstream productions such as Johnny Mnemonic, the cartoon Exosquad, and The Matrix). It is the most difficult object to implement, but it is also the most important in terms of interfacing directly with the mind. In science fiction, the data-jack is the envisioned I/O port for the brain. Its job is to translate thoughts into something meaningful to a computer and to translate something from a computer into meaningful thoughts for humans. Once perfected, it would allow direct communication between computers and the human mind.
Large university laboratories conduct most of the experiments in the area of direct neural interfaces. For ethical reasons, the tests are usually performed on animals or slices of brain tissue from donor brains. The mainstream research focuses on electrical impulse monitoring, recording, and translating the many different electrical signals that the brain transmits. A number of companies are working on what is essentially a “hands-free” mouse or keyboard. This technology uses these brain signals to control computer functions. These interfaces are sometimes called brain-machine interfaces (BMI).
The more intense research, concerning full in-brain interfaces, is being studied but is in its infancy. Few can afford the huge cost of such enterprises, and those who can find the work slow-going and very far from the ultimate goals. Research has reached the level where limited control over a computer is possible using thought commands alone. After being implanted with a Massachusetts-based firm Cyberkinetics chip called BrainGate, a quadriplegic man was able to compose and check email.
Prosthetics (“bodyware”)
The second variety of cyberware consists of a more modern form of the rather old field of prosthetics. Modern prostheses attempt to deliver a natural functionality and appearance. In the sub-field where prosthetics and cyberware cross over, experiments have been done where microprocessors, capable of controlling the movements of an artificial limb, are attached to the severed nerve-endings of the patient. The patient is then taught how to operate the prosthetic, trying to learn how to move it as though it were a natural limb.
Crossing over between prostheses and interfaces are those pieces of equipment attempting to replace lost senses. An early success in this field is the cochlear implant. A tiny device inserted into the inner ear, it replaces the functionality of damaged, or missing, hair cells (the cells that, when stimulated, create the sensation of sound). This device comes firmly under the field of prosthetics, but experiments are also being performed to tap into the brain. Coupled with a speech processor, this could be a direct link to the speech centres of the brain.
References
- ^ Fromherz, Peter; “Neuroelectronic Interfacing: Semiconductor Chips with Ion Channels, Nerve Cells, and Brain”; Nanoelectronics and Information Technology, pp. 781–810, Editor R. Waser, Wiley-VCH, Berlin, 2003
- ^ Hooper, Simon (October 21, 2004) Brain chip offers hope for paralyzed CNN
- ^ Lusted, HS and Knapp, “RB Controlling Computers with Neural Signals”. Scientific American, October 1996
- ^ Khamsi, R. (2004). Paralyzed man sends e-mail by thought News@nature, doi:10.1038/news041011-9
- ^ Houston, V. L., Mason, C. P., Beattie, A. C., LaBlanc, K. P., Garbarini, M., Lorenze, E. J., & Thongpop, C. M. (1995). The VA-cyberware lower limb prosthetics-orthotics optical laser digitizer. Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development, 32(1), 55.
- ^ Branwyn, Gareth “The desire to be wired”. Wired Issue 1.04, October 1993