From: Brett Paatsch (bpaatsch@bigpond.net.au)
Date: Mon Aug 04 2003 - 10:52:03 MDT
[Having had the benefit of your comments I thought
I take another look at this thread in light of some of
the claims Warwick makes in his book ]
On Monday, July 28, 2003 11:34 PM: I wrote:
> > I would be interested to hear what others think of
> > Warwick's claims to have been the first cyborg and
> > to what extent if at all his achievements in practice
> > have been surpassed by others or by Warwick
> > himself, now, less than a year since I, CYBORG,
> > was written. - Brett Paatsch
[Alex Blainey]
>
> In my mind Warwick's claim to be the first cyborg
> is unjustified. He has done little more than implant
> a small transmitter tracking device that has no real
> interface with or use to the body. The device would
> have given exactly the same results if it were in his
> pocket, rather than under his skin.
>
><snip>
>
> That said, I could be forced to agree that he is
> probably the first human cyborg for being a cyborg's
> sake. I believe his next step will be to implant direct
> neural connections and a transmitter. This is a far
> greater step towards Cyborgism and should yield
> some interesting data. Direct interfacing is the way
> to go.
Alex, Warwick did a simpler experiment in 1998 where
all he did do was implant a small transmitter in his arm
(without connecting it any way to the median nerve) and
walk about with it, activating appliances in a computerised
house, almost, as you aptly put it, as though it was in his
pocket. Yet, in this book written in August 2002, he does
actually get an electrode array surgically implanted into
the medial nerve of his left wrist for three months. I wonder
if it is possible that you have heard of the earlier work and
are mixing it up with the later 2002 experiment? Certainly
Warwick is claiming he achieved direct interfacing (albeit
in a limited way) with this set of 2002 experiments.
"A micro electrode array consisting of 100 individual
electrodes (only 20 of which were active due to manu-
facturer delivery time constraints) was implanted in the
median nerve (lower left arm above the wrist). The radius
of each electrode tip was 1-3 mm, the active region being
50-80mm long."
"The technique (provided) selective recording and
stimulation of sensory and/or motor neurons within the
nerve fascicles."
"The main difference between the 1998 implant and the
new experiment was the connection that would be made
with the nervous system, ... using the Utah array. The
main body of the implant (was) a radio transmitter/
receiver (used) to send signals from (his) nervous system
by radio to the computer and to receive signals sent,
again by radio, from the computer and play them on
(his) nervous system via the median nerve in his arm."
Amongst the achievements that Warwick would claim
in the 2002 experiments would be the following:
In a first set of experiments in April 2002 Warwick
showed how signals from his brain could be used to
control robots, operate in a limited way an articulated
robotic hand, and to manipulate the local environment
(the network in the cybernetics building).
In a second set of experiments Warwick controlled the
robot hand via moving his fingers and sending a neural
signal to a computer then across the Atlantic, via the
internet. He verified that he could receive a signal back
to his nervous system (a small shock to his median nerve
closing his left index finger) over the internet and
demonstrated a sort of bat like extra sense. To do this
he wore an ultrasonic hat with sender and receiver
antenna both wired from a wearable hat into his median
nerve via the array such that he could judge the proximity
of approaching or retreating objects with his eyes closed.
Warwick argues these are true cyborg powers because
sensing over the internet and having a sonar sense like
a crude form of bat sonar is above and beyond the senses
of normal humans.
Warwick also managed to drive a wheelchair using the
signals sent from his median nerve when he opened and
closed his hand and managed to set up a crude sort
of Morse code whereby he and his partner (that had a
single electrode implanted) could send each other simple
messages (essentially something or nothing - so a kind
of Morse code). This for Warwick was *the* very big
deal as he saw it as the first direct nervous system to
nervous system communication. Albeit in a simple form.
[Mez writes]
>
> Warwick was certainly not the first human to have
> electrodes inserted into his body. Back in 97, years
> before Warwick had an electrode stuck in his arm,
> Phil Kennedy was inserting electrodes into the
> brains of patients with ALS and giving them the
> ability to move cursors on computer screens by
> thought. More than 20 years ago, Dobelle implanted
> his first patient with a cortical visual prosthesis
> producing useful vision. There are more than
> 80,000 people with cochlear implants now -
> electrodes stimulating their auditory nerve.
>
All good points and Warwick would agree with these
too.
[Mez continues:]
> Warwick's experiments, by contrast, are rather tame.
Here I think I must disagree. Whilst Warwicks successes
are mainly proof in principle they do imo achieve successes
*as* proofs in principle. That Warwick was able to get his
experimental protocols through ethics committees and get
his finding on the record should make it substantially easier
for others to do follow up research. Warwicks research
shows that given a sufficiently detailed understanding of the
nervous system (which we are seriously lacking because its
so hard to get permission to do the experiments) it would be
possible to give amputees "bridges" over damaged nerves
and to get direct nervous system control over wheelchairs
etc. He also puts on the record that the brain can quickly
adopt and accommodate new sensory input without any
apparent side effects over a three month period.
By doing what he did scientifically, in the way he did it, as
a self promoting publicity machine Warwick pushed the
peanut forward substantially in my view. He deliberately
courted the media and managed to make his relationship
with them a symbiotic one. In this I think his story, like the
story of Michael West in Merchant's of Immortality is
a story worth aspiring extropic entrepreneurs taking on
board.
[Natasha picks up Alex Blainey's point:]
> > IMO even people with artificial limbs or joints rank
> > higher on the cyborg scale than Warwick.
>
> I agree in total. You make an important point. The art
> of machine/human interface is being performed by the
> most apt people around - those who need to upgrade
> to live or function, rather than fancy footwork and
> superficial accessorization at this point.
To Warwicks credit he does not minimise the seriousness
of artificial limbs, cochlea implants etc or the utility of
wearables. All these things are seen as good. He is however
interested in improving the functionality and range of such
artificial limbs and he is not averse, indeed he savours the
idea of not just replacing what is lost of normal human
function but positively adding too human capabilities as
a matter of choice.
[Charles Hixson raises the point of what is a cyborg
and cybernetics:]
>
> Perhaps "cyborgness" should be considered a graduated
> phenomenon rather than a flip-flop. This would put the
> first people to wear furs to stay warm at the most primitive
> level of cyborg.
>
> OTOH, a person with a pace-maker is definitely more of
> a cyborg than a guy with an implanted tracker. (Cyborg:
> Cybernetic Organism. Cybernetic from the Greek steersman.
> ref.: Norbert Weiner.)
From a number of standpoints the precise definition of cyborg
may be arbitrary. Warwick sees some merit in preserving the
term not for wearables (though he doesn't diminish their importance)
but for "something that is part-animal, part-machine and whose
capabilities are extended *beyond* normal limits. This is much
more general than other definitions and includes creatures other
than humans. It allows for mental upgrades as well as physical
upgrades and allows the extension to go beyond the normal
limits of either the animal or the machine." Warwick distinguishes
wearables as part of a "cybernetic system".
[Samantha writes:]
> Actually, Steve Mann of continuous wearable computer
> fame, is much more advanced as a practical cyborg imho
> than anyone with medical prothesis of any kind currently
> on the market.
Steve Mann certainly gets a favourable plug in the book.
My interest Samantha was to try and find out what sorts of
products and what the state of the art (or near state of the
art) in cyborg or cyborg-like technologies was. On the whole
I think the book gives a pretty good summary in retrospect.
I agree that from a practical point of view, at least in the
short term there is a lot to be said for being able to put on
and take off clothing having the sort of extra capabilities
that one might have as a cyborg. However what intrigued me
about the book was the argument that eventually the forms of
interpersonal communication people use with each other
will come to seem hopelessly inadequate in comparison
with the sort of tech enable telepathy that may become
available. I was also on the lookout for work that might
indicate to me how much is actually able to be done in
terms of cutting into the bodies of volunteers who want
to experiment in an informed way with memory enhancements
and uploads in the future. What struck me was that we
actually know so little not just about the brain but about
the nervous system generally, and that this is a logical
consequence of our aversion to do research on living
humans (including volunteers and ourselves).
[ Samantha again:]
> Manfred Clynes described the need for humans to
> artificially enhance biological functions in order to
> survive in the hostile environment of Space.
This theme of the need to become cyborgs, to join
with the machines or be displaced by them is an
underlying one throughout the book. Warwick like
Moravec sees humans qua humans eventually becoming
a subspecies.
---------
Thanks for the thoughts folks. In hindsight I reckon the
book is a reasonably good read but as I said originally
it is like looking over the shoulder of a researcher and
I imagine a ghost writer or several editors had to do a
lot of work to turn Warwicks notes into a readable
but not very indexed book.
Regards,
Brett Paatsch
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