Week 8 - Tute Task and Tutespark

Many writers have utilised cyberpunk as prefigurative social and political theory in the realms of urban studies, cultural theory and the sociology of the body. Below are some of the main, recurring themes.

Fusion of man and machine: In addition to cyborgs, sentient programs and robots, cyberpunk often blurs of what it means to be human. Traits we take for granted as representing humanity disappear via introspective looks brought on by the fusion of man and machine. This fusion also affects the control of perception - numerous storylines explore with influences to perception, usually involving some method of virtual reality environment to either mask or take the place of the “real world.”


Sources:

• http://au.tv.ign.com/top-100-animated-tv-series/54.html
• http://www.technologyreview.com/biomedicine/22479

MAY/JUNE 2009

A Go-Go Cyborg Arm

Inspector Gadget … an Inspiration?

By Michael Rosenwald

People who have lost an arm have not traditionally had much hope of ever regaining meaningful function. Prosthetic arms have been controlled in a rudimentary way, by transforming residual shoulder movements or muscle signals into the ­simplest movement commands. These artificial arms cannot do two things at once, much less three or four. Amputees often toss them in the closet out of sheer frustration.

But the situation is starting to change, thanks to a team led by Todd Kuiken, director of the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago's Center for Bionic Medicine. Kuiken has developed a novel surgical technique that, when paired with both motorized prosthetic arms already on the market and experimental bionic arms developed through a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) program, affords amputees a remarkable degree of dexterity.

Claudia Mitchell, who lost her arm in a motorcycle wreck in 2004, remembers putting on a prosthesis after undergoing Kuiken's procedure and seeing it work for the first time: "You could not wipe that grin off of my face”. Mrs Mitchell is now working with her husband on additional gadgets that could be incorporated into the prosthesis. They have so far created a bottle opener that Mrs Mitchell says she wears to parties "People can't believe how this thing works," she says. "They want to know what else we have planned!"

Thrilled at the success of the prosthesis, Mr Kuiken has plans to approach the military with designs for a lightweight, bionic weapon worn on the arm for soldiers. Mr Kuiken says, “The possibilities are endless!”