Our cyborg future?

Last Thursday I dragged the family off to see a new interactive exhibition at the Discovery Museum in Newcastle entitled ‘Our Cyborg Future’. It’s on until 27 October, with free entry into the show and it’s well worth a visit if you are in the area. The blurb for the show reads: ‘Where does the me end and the machine begin? This exciting exhibition features body parts, smart textiles, wearable computing and much more. Come and see, come and think, come and discuss: is this the future we want?’

Well, there was plenty to think about, but no-one to discuss my ideas with, as the only people in attendance were the security guards who made sure you didn’t walk off with the exhibits. It would have been nice to talk to a computer scientist or a cybernetics expert, because many of the ideas on show demanded a dialogue of some kind. Perhaps the most significant exhibit for me was the computer-brain interface device, which is worn over the head Petr Cech style, as rubber helmet, replete with EEG sensors that are patched into the computer (pictured). All you do is ‘think’ your cursor around the screen and it follows your every command. Sounds neat and very useful (particularly for quadriplegic users) but also just a little bit scary. It’s not that new an idea either, but it was nice to see it in action, even if only on a video. Bio-clothing was also on show, where fabric changed shape and colour (or even disappeared!) on wearer command. There were numerous computer controlled protheses, some of which appalled my young son, until I told him you didn’t actually have to have your leg amputated to wear a bionic leg – but you could wear one if you were unlucky to lose your leg in an accident.

I also enjoyed getting the remote sensor robot angry – the closer you get to him the more animated he becomes, and I got close enough to get him thrashing around on his pistons like a demented Johnny Rotton. He came within a hair’s breadth of braining me at one point (the robot, not Johnny Rotten).

Oh….and to answer the question in the exhibition blurb – is this the future we want? Well it’s the future we will get, whether we want it or not.