Cyborgs and Kevin Warwick

By Jason EarlsThe word ‘cyborg’ is a combination of ‘cybernetic’ and ‘organism’ which means a human being whose physical functioning is aided insome capacity (or even entirely dependent upon) anelectromechanical device. Many fictional cyborgs have appeared inmovies and books – my favorite was always

The Terminator

, played by Arnold Schwarzenegger. But are there any actual persons today who have become true cyborgs? Even if only temporarily? (Notcounting those who use electromechanical devices due to physicalnecessity.)Kevin Warwick is a professor of Cybernetics at the University of Reading who has conducted significant experiments with cyborgtechnology. (Some of his critics have dubbed him ‘Captain Cyborg.’)His first experiment involved implanting a chip in his arm to sendradio signals to computer-controlled devices in his university. Hecould open doors, manipulate lights, have a computer say ‘Hello,’ as well as adjust the temperature of a room, merely by being in closeproximity to the objects. The “chip” Warwick had installed was aRadio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag, encased in glass inside hisarm, which is an object people wear or put into different products toreceive signals from an RFID transceiver. Warwick’s “Project Cyborg1.0” experiment was successful at determining the exact level of signal-strength that the chip could emit upon being installed in ahuman, and how well the implant could be tolerated by the body.Warwick’s next experiment, “Project Cyborg 2.0” involved sendingsignals directly from his nervous system to various objects, and evento other humans. He first used a chip to control a robotic arm, whichcould actually mimic the movements of his own arm. Then his wife joined in the experiment by having an electrode array implanted thatinterfaced with her own nervous system. Warwick’s primary goal wasfor them to be able to send their ‘feelings’ back and forth forcomparison purposes, and to see if some type of telepathiccommunication could be achieved. Although the experiment wassuccessful at sending signals, they apparently were not strong enoughto be felt by the other person to any significant degree. One of thethings Warwick worried about with Project Cyborg 2.0 was if any of the raw noise data that their nervous systems were receiving would bedamaging enough to make them lose their minds. Warwick has stated in articles that he wants to try otherexperiments in which he will try to determine if humans can enhancetheir main senses with computer chips. Could an implant allow us tosee infrared light? for example. Also he would like to investigate the