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A man with metal horns protruding from his forehead and a split tongue poking out between his teeth advanced toward me with a scalpel. "I've never done this before," he joked, inching closer.
A full-sleeve tattoo snaked out from beneath his black T-shirt, extending from a demon on his bicep to a skull on his fist. My eyes darted between skull and scalpel, then instinctively shut as I cringed, bracing for contact. Zack Watson, the inked-up body modification artist I'd hired — and drove seven hours from New York City to see — was about to sew a magnet under my skin.
...
Biohacking enthusiasts have tinkered with electronic tattoos and subdermal — underneath-the-skin — implants for two decades, sharing their efforts in videos on YouTube and internet forums to spread and encourage innovation. Proponents believe smart implants represent the future of wearable technology, potentially making humans healthier and more efficient while providing new opportunity to consumer-technology companies such as Apple Inc. AAPL, -0.34% and Alphabet Inc. GOOGL, -0.71% GOOG, -0.57% that are investing heavily in technology that could revolutionize health care.All of these predictions [quoted in the article] come as global adoption of wearables is forecast to boom. Juniper Research, which tracks consumer technology trends, expects world-wide wearable shipments to reach 420 million by 2020, more than four times the 80 million shipped in 2015. A similar surge is predicted for medical devices, with shipments projected to triple to 70 million over the next four years.
Trans-humanism has been around for a while, but the article focuses on the investment capital that is now flowing into the area.
(Score: 1) by Magneto on Thursday November 17 2016, @03:27PM
I can see your point. For me whether it is "cybernetic" or not isn't really the point. I can now feel things I couldn't before and to me that's what matters.
You're partially right about sticking a magnet to the outside of your skin. That would work in a similar way and you would get similar sensations, though I expect it would be a lot less sensitive. However having it permanently inside you for a long period of time changes the way you perceive the sensation. To me it doesn't feel like there's something attached to me that's moving, it actually feels like a part of myself. I don't know whether the same effect would occur with an externally attached device.
(Score: 2) by number6x on Thursday November 17 2016, @04:29PM
Yes, and the super glue would wear off now and then :)
People with Meniere's disease in both ears often completely lose their sense of balance.
Recently a device that is based on a set of accelerometers and two 'patches' attached to your skin has been tested for these people. The patches are about as long and wide as a stick of Wrigley's chewing gum. They are oriented at 90 degrees to each other.. As the accelerometers tip one way or the other, the wearer 'feels' little electric shocks moving along the strips one way or another. They say the shocks feel like bubbles against the skin. The further the accelerometer is tipped, the stronger the flow of the 'bubbles'.
Amazingly, even though these people have lost the nerve impulses from their inner ears, the wearer's brains quickly learn to interpret the signals on their skin, from the accelerometers, and associate the 'bubbles' with the data coming from the wearer’s eyes. They develop a new sense of balance based on nerve input from the skin, and not from the inner ear. They can often begin to walk and orient them selves while wearing the devices and their constant 'falling' vertigo is diminished.
The brain learns to compensate and make due with other input signals. It is all done at a subconscious level, the brain interprets the input naturally. The user doesn't spend time thinking 'oh, the bubbles are doing this, so I know which way is up'. The brain just takes care of the input and interprets it.
Your brain, interpreting input from your implant, is probably similar.
I would suggest two long thin magnets, maybe as long as a centimeter in length, oriented at 90 degrees to each other. see if the brain could use the stimulation to determine direction.
Part of the device for a vestibular prostheses: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=4&sqi=2&ved=0ahUKEwik9p2VmbDQAhWs7YMKHaeeBWQQFggwMAM&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mdpi.com%2F1424-8220%2F14%2F7%2F13173%2Fpdf&usg=AFQjCNHfXIT4bf89mYCw5D3r9LbqooKPmw&sig2=GQo5K_QjFdp0dQa3ieYGgg&bvm=bv.139138859,d.amc [google.com]