HUMAN AUGMENTATION: A technology that is blurring the line between Biology and Technology by enhancing human productivity, capability, health, and overall quality of life. Human Augmentation is sometimes considered as extreme, futuristic tech, but many forms of human augmentation are available today.
DEFINITION:
In a simple word, we can say human augmentation is a technology or research that works to enhance human productivity or capability, or that somehow add to the human body. As augmentation means that something becomes so integrated into the user's life that it becomes an extension of them. Modern advancements in many areas of IT have led to a greater variety of implants and other technologies that could be classed as human augmentation. We will discuss this in brief. As an example, you can not consider a laptop as an augmentation but a smartphone especially a smartwatch could easily be considered an augmentation. Cause, your smartwatch is always with you and it augments your ability to access any information at any time. So, a tool never becomes a part of your identity, but an augmentation almost surely has to. Eyeglasses, pacemakers, binoculars, prosthetics, wearable devices, chip implants, microscopes, or highly sensitive microphones and genetic modifications would all be examples of augmentations under this definition.
Therefore Human augmentation is a field of research where scientists are working on technology to help keep humans going—replacing lost limbs, growing or printing new organs, and even creating tools that can reprogram human DNA without a single incision. Scientists are also creating ways to make humans better than ever with robot arms to lift hundreds of pounds and jetpacks to fly like superheroes. While many fear that robots will replace us, there is ongoing work to make humans into superhumans—better than ever before.
Human augmentation may also be called human 2.0.
Types of Human Augmentation
Human augmentation can be classified into three categories on the basis of its functions.
- Replicating human ability:
- Human augmentations that restore or replicate typical human abilities fall into the category of replication.
- This includes things like prosthetic limbs for the disabled, hearing aids for the deaf, and voice synthesizers for the mute.
- Supplementing human ability:
- Human augmentations that improve our ability to do something fall under the category of supplementation.
- This includes devices that artificially increase our strength, enhance our sight beyond normal limits, or increase our intelligence.
- Exceeding human ability:
- Human augmentations that allow us to do things that we cannot do on our own fall into the category of exceeding augmentation.
- This includes things like the ability to fly, breathe underwater, see ultraviolet or infrared light, and smell chemicals not currently detectable by the human olfactory sense.
Examples of Human Augmentation
Many parts of the human body can be augmented, here are few examples that show some of the directions augmentations can take:
- EksoWorks:
- Creates exoskeletons for industrial and rehabilitation purposes.
- Their products are devices that users wear on their body (typically from the torso up) for artificial strength and endurance.
- These devices come in multiple variations for different tasks, to help users in areas like construction, auto manufacturing, and even physical therapy.
- Solar Ear:
- It is a low-cost, solar-rechargeable hearing aid.
- It provides the hard of hearing and near-deaf with an affordable alternative to traditional hearing aids, bringing the technology into countries and regions that previously weren’t able to afford such devices.
- Teslasuit:
- It is a wearable outfit that can control the wearer’s temperature, provide haptic feedback, and track the wearer’s movements.
- While this tech is currently being used for VR immersion, the ideas that have gone into its development can be translated easily into the realm of augmentation.
- Brain-Computer Interface (BCI):
- This is an interface that allows an individual to interact with a computer or machine using only their mind.
- While most of this technology is still conceptual, the possibilities are limitless.
- BCI is not just about sending information to a computer, but also allowing humans to receive new types of information from their computers in return.
- Computers may one day be able to digitally replicate aspects of the human experience, allowing individuals to experience software through all of their five senses.
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