Becoming acyborg

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Contact: Brittney MacDonald, Life & Style Editor
M1 lifeandstyle@theotherpress.ca

» Robotic cosmetic implants

Brittney MacDonald
Life & Style Editor
Mlifeandstyle@theotherpress.ca

 

f youre like me, you’ve

probably often spent your
free time contemplating what
it would be like to replace or
enhance your squishy human
flesh with robotic parts. Yes
my friends, I’m talking about
becoming a cyborg. To me,
and many others, cyborgs are
something you generally only
encounter in television or books,
but believe it or not there is
actually a growing community
of cyborgs worldwide.

To be clear, when I use the

term cyborg I am referring to
people who have undergone

: elective surgery to “enhance”

: themselves in a technological

: manner. J am not referring to

: people with robotic limbs due
: to birth defects or amputation,
: noram I referring to people

: who have undergone cosmetic
: surgery that introduced “foreign”
: substances or prosthetics

: to enhance their human

: appearance, such as breast

: augmentation or lip injections.

These early stage cyborgs

: call themselves “biohackers,”

: and, for now, they generally

: only modify themselves with

: chip implants and subdermal

: magnets. These chip implants

: can do a variety of simple

: tasks from monitoring body

: temperature and other life signs,

: to activating a subdermal LED
: to freak out the neighborhood
: kids, and unlocking their mobile :
: devices. Subdermal magnets

: tend to only give you Magneto-
: like powers to pick up paper

: clips or sense magnetic fields

: around you as easily as you

: would touch a wall. I will admit
: I was a little unimpressed, but

: to be fair, all the technology

: used is relatively new and there’s :
: much more in development.

Recently, Grindhouse

: Wetware released their device,
: the Northstar v1, a circular

: implant that goes on the back
: of the hand. When activated

: by a magnet, either a magnet

: implant located in a different

: part of the body, or an external

This issue:

(Y Listed: 10 resolutions that will be broken in the new year

(¥Y Beauty on a Budget

(Y The ECO-nomist: What to do with holiday leftovers

And more!

: magnet, the implant will light
: up with a ring of LED lights,

giving off a very cylon or

: terminator effect. Although

: the Viis purely cosmetic, the
: company is currently developing :
: an implant that will allow its

: owner to control smart phones
: and other mobile devices

: with their gestures alone,

: but for now the V1 is purely

cosmetic. According to a press

: release put out by Grindhouse

: Wetware: “Northstar V1, much

: like piercings and cosmetic

: surgeries, is purely for aesthetic
: purposes. It is a simple device

: that will prove the possibility of
: implanting technology in the

: body and will pave the way for

: more advanced and functional

Illustration by Ed Appleby

: augmentations.” Grindhouse

: claims that their V2 model will

: bea “..rechargeable device that

: adds gesture recognition and

: Bluetooth capabilities, enabling

users to control electronic

: devices with hand movements,
: as well as add patterns or color
: variations to [the] LED.”

All in all, it’s some pretty

: amazing stuff, and it means that
: one day in the near future, those
: advanced cyborgs of every sci-fi

: geek’s dreams might become a

: reality. For now, I think Pll hold

: off on getting any modifications
: myself. I’m waiting for the smart
: phone that can be implanted

: in your arm so you never lose

: itor leave it on the bus.