MetaFilter posts tagged with cyborg

Big Brother's just a beetle on the wall

scrutiny — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 11:54:32 -0800

Cyborg Spy Beetles are no longer a thing of the future. UC Berkeley (funded by DARPA) has created cyborg beetles guided wirelessly via laptop. These spy beetles were created with the intent of bugging actual conversations, literally acting as the "fly on the wall". This, surprisingly, doesn't seem to be a hoax. Here's some more detailed info.

Get away from her, you bitch!

KokuRyu — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 11:01:15 -0800

"Robot Suit HAL" is a cyborg-type robot that can expand and improve physical capability. HAL, which weighs 23kg, is comprised of robotic 'limbs', and a backpack containing the suit's battery and computer system. It is strapped to the body and controlled by thought. When a person attempts to move, nerve signals are sent from the brain to the muscles, and very weak traces of these signals can be detected on the surface of the skin. The HAL suit identifies these signals using a sensor attached the skin of the wearer, and a signal is sent to the suit's power unit telling the suit to move in unison with the wearer's own limbs. Japan's METI ministry has been jointly working with private firms on the development of robots. This comes in response to growing demand for their use in nursing care and welfare amid the aging of Japanese society. Other robots developed under a project to assist people who need nursing care and rehabilitation, have been shown to the public.

Аста ла виста, беби

madamjujujive — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 15:30:31 -0800

Stalin's Secret Weapon - a Russian hobbyist's terminator-esque diorama painstakingly constructed from military action figures. (Via buzz

When Gravity Fails

Artw — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 00:24:45 -0800

Editor Marty Halpern looks back at the career of George Alec Effinger (part 1, part 2, part 3), a prolific author best known for his work set in the Budayeen, a walled city in a future Islamic state, teeming with gangsters, hustlers and transsexual prostitutes, many of them habitual users of plug in personality modules. The noirish tone and exotic technology of the Marîd Audran books (When Gravity Fails, A Fire In The Sun, The Exile Kiss) made Effinger one of the leading lights in the cyberpunk movie, and spawned a videogame - a rare attempt at a graphical adventure from Infocom - and an RPG setting. Sadly Effinger faded from prominence after that, and he suffered from a number of health and financial setbacks before passing away in 2002. His work has had somewhat of a resurgence in popularity of late, with the Marîd Audran books coming back into print in 2007, a long with a collection containing The Wolves of Memory, Effinger's personal favourite amongst his novels.

Extending the Mind

homunculus — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 22:50:55 -0800

How Google Is Making Us Smarter: Humans are "natural-born cyborgs," and the Internet is our giant "extended mind."

monkey see, monkey do

Pants! — Wed, 28 May 2008 17:51:35 -0800

Scientists from the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon have demonstrated that a monkey can control a robotic arm with its brain when food is used as a reward.

Amal of Borg.

darkstar — Fri, 17 Feb 2006 08:10:25 -0800

Amal Graafstra has implanted two rfid chips into his hands to permit himself keyless access to his computer, car and home. He's also written a book about the experience and the various rfid "toys" he's devised. This Valentine's Day, he and his girlfriend expressed a "modern declaration of their affection for each other, with implanted electronic chips that allow them unfettered access to each other's lives". Interested in something similar? The company Amal used is selling a kit. Though they don't actually recommend it for use with medical implants. So, cool, crazy or inevitable?

Adorned in titanium, latex, silicone, and electronic apparatus

moonbird — Thu, 21 Jul 2005 20:48:57 -0800

Psymbiote: Hybrid Apparatus for Social Interface [via]

Science at work

cmicali — Wed, 15 Jun 2005 11:05:05 -0800

Touch-Sensitive Cyborg

let's comingle our transmission paths, sugar.

moonbird — Wed, 02 Mar 2005 04:00:55 -0800

Human Area Networking technology turns the surface of the human body into a data transmission path. A transmission path is formed at the moment a part of the human body comes in contact with a RedTacton transceiver.

Professor Experiments With Life As Cyborg

edmcbride — Mon, 12 Jan 2004 14:18:09 -0800

Cyborgs in Canada? When you first meet Steve Mann, it seems as if you've interrupted him appraising diamonds or doing some sort of specialized welding. Because the first thing you notice is the plastic frame that comes around his right ear and holds a lens over his right eye.

Survival Suits, cyborgs and art for our dangerous times

madamjujujive — Sat, 15 Mar 2003 07:36:03 -0800

Survival System Train & Other Sculpture - "atomic-powered cyborgs, quasi-animate freight trains, and other absurd and fabulous contraptions populate the universe of Kenji Yanobe. Welcome to the world of the future-past, the unkempt aftermath of Better Living Through Science."

My Father, the Cyborg

chason — Thu, 13 Feb 2003 05:18:39 -0800

The Soul of a New Machine is the title of an article in the Chronicle of Higher Education about the recent proliferation of cyborgs in the humanities. Growing outside of science, and inspired by science fiction, cyborgs have invaded economics, anthropology, and even philosophy. Cyborgs are indeed taking over the academic world. NASA is interested, too. In fact, NASA's Cyborg Program was based on the research of Manfred Clynes and Nathan Kline. More inside...

swordfishtrombones — Sun, 24 Mar 2002 10:13:42 -0800

"Basically, we are going to argue Professor Mann was discriminated against because he is a cyborg," As was discussed a few days ago, Steve Mann is the first (?) cyborg. People at the airport did not seem to be impressed. After a stripsearch, he had to go to a hospital. So now we have the first 'cyborg rights' lawsuit.

TiggleTaggleTiger — Mon, 17 Sep 2001 19:37:52 -0800

Who else thinks we could use some of these now.
Seems a shame they're not quite ready to help with this disaster.
"...like crawling through earthquake rubble to search for victims..."

will — Tue, 20 Mar 2001 16:07:49 -0800

The cyborg manifesto scares me. I first read it in this month's adbusters magazine, then online. It paints a provocative picture of our future. Will we look back on this as the just the beginning or is it vapor-futurism?
flash 4 required

Steven Den Beste — Fri, 08 Dec 2000 13:21:11 -0800

The six million pound man? Is he visionary or just stupid? More important, is this really something we want, even if he can make it work?

sikk — Thu, 30 Mar 2000 09:15:34 -0800

Sick of your Wu-Name? I was never fond of 'Ol` Filthy, Sweaty Bastard' anyhow. Now you can get Your Own Cyborg Name. And Oh BOY!, is "S.I.K.K.: Synthetic Individual Keen on Killing" a much slicker name! watch out now.