It seems cyborgs are the rage this week. The game ‘Deus Ex: Human Revolution’, which features a cyborg protagonist, was released this past week. Now we have advancements in the real world arena via Canadian filmmaker Rob Spence. Spence lost his right eye when he was nine years old. Since that time, Spence has been trying to find a way to regain his vision. In 2009, his quest took a unique turn when he managed to create an artificial eye that housed a tiny camera. Time Magazine named his ‘Eyeborg’ project as one of the greatest inventions of the year.
A few days ago, Spence posted a new video update of the ‘Eyeborg’ project on his YouTube page. The video, a feature from SkyNews, shows that the camera-enhanced artificial eye has now been rigged to transmit video from the eye wirelessly to an LCD screen. Spence activates his eye by waving a small magnet in front of it. This turns the camera on and now whatever the eye sees can be viewed and recorded.
The technology isn’t up to the level of being able to send images directly to the human brain but it is still an amazing step into the potential of cybernetic human enhancement. It seems that the futuristic sci-fi RPG ‘Shadowrun’ might have proven prophetic of what the future holds with augmented reality eye implants. It won’t be the first time that science fiction has inspired real world products.
