Installing A New Age Of Humanity

From reality-enhancing implants to brain-controlled exoskeletons, breakthroughs in bio-tech have fuelled a new fusion of machinery and organic matter. Here we speak to the Cyborgs who are helping humanity transcend its biological limits, one device at a time

- Hayley Bennett

‘Eyeborg’ Rob Spence is a filmmaker who lost an eye following a gun accident. He created a wireless video camera eye as a replacement, which is hooked up to a remote receiver. He has several different versions, including this Terminator-style one.

Humans are integrating with technology. Not in the future – now. With the emergence of custom prosthetics that make us stronger and faster, neural implants that change how our brains work, and new senses and abilities that you’ve never dreamed of having, it’s time to start imagining what a better version of you might look like.

Some call it transhumanism. It’s not a philosophy cybernetics expert Kevin Warwick associates himself with, but he can’t deny he’s a cyborg… or was. Warwick had a 2.5cm-long radio frequency identification (RFID) chip implanted in his arm in 1998. Back then it was considered risky, even reckless. He went ahead anyway, creating a media circus as he demonstrated how the chip made him remotely traceable to a computer and allowed him to open the automated security doors at his University of Sheffield lab without touching them.