All Cyborgs Now: SmartHand Wired to Nerve Ends

Prof. Yosi Shacham-Diamand of TAU's Department of Engineering, working with a team of European Union scientists, has successfully wired a state-of-the-art artificial hand to existing nerve endings in the stump of a severed arm. The device, called "SmartHand," resembles -- in function, sensitivity and appearance -- a real hand.

Robin af Ekenstam of Sweden, the project's first human subject, has not only been able to complete extremely complicated tasks like eating and writing, he reports he is also able to "feel" his fingers once again.

The state of the art for advanced prosthetic hands has just jumped a level -- thanks to the EU built SmartHand, and its neurally wired interface developed at Tel Aviv University.

[Hand recipient] Ekenstam told a television interviewer, "I am using muscles which I haven't used for years. I grab something hard, and then I can feel it in the fingertips, which is strange, as I don't have them anymore. It's amazing."

This particular multi-million dollar project focused on hands, but the TAU/EU team could also have built bionic legs to be wired to the brain. The team first chose to build a hand, however, because of its unique challenges. "The fingers in the hand are the most complex appendages we have," Prof. Shacham-Diamand observes. "The brain needs to synchronise the movement of each digit in a very complicated way."

With the help of the TAU team, the SmartHand project was able to integrate recent advances in today's "intelligent" prosthetic hands with all the basic features of a flesh-and-blood hand. Four electric motors and 40 sensors are activated when the SmartHand touches an object, not only replicating the movement of a human hand, but also providing the wearer with a sensation of feeling and touch. _SD

The researchers eventually intend to cover the machine SmartHand with a "skin" covering, to match the recipient's own skin tone, to create a more natural appearance. There will always be those who would rather maintain the artificial, robotic appearance for various reasons of their own, of course.

The SmartHand interface apparently utilises flexible implanted electrodes for transferring information to and from nerve endings remaining in the distal stump.  It appears to provide distinctly improved motion control and sensation both.

It should be obvious that the same technology could be used to provide non-amputees with the ability to operate and feel distant avatars and all types of remote prostheses.   If you do not mind a number of implanted electrodes in rather sensitive parts of your body, you may even pioneer the new science of "teledildonics", or sex at a distance. 

Or you may want to wait until transcranial brain implants are perfected, which can bypass lower body-interfaces altogether.

Today, you do not have that choice.  Soon, you may.

Something Tells Me It's All Happening in the Brain

The brain is the most important sex organ we have. Billions of dollars are spent every year on phone sex, internet video sex, internet porn, and other relatively crude ways of stimulating the sexual parts of the brain. Why not skip the middle men and shoot directly for the pleasure centers of the brain?

Scientists are developing an electronic 'sex chip' that works by stimulating the pleasure centres in the brain.

The technology, which creates tiny shocks deep in the brain, has already been used in America to treat Parkinson's disease.

Now researchers are focusing on the orbitofrontal cortex, which is associated with feelings of pleasure caused by eating and sex. _DailyMail

Tiny shocks deep in the brain? Tiny, nipping little teasing shocks, so deep, deep in the brain? Hmmmm, it might work.

Carbon nanotubes may be just the electrodes to make it all possible. Metal electrodes tend to slip and move around, and collect subcellular debris that causes the interface to degrade over time. Carbon nanotubes may well provide the flexibility and bio-compatibility for a more permanently intimate connection.

The new carbon nanotube-based interface technology discovered together with state of the art simulations of brain-machine interfaces is the key to developing all types of neuroprosthetics — sight, sound, smell, motion, vetoing epileptic attacks, spinal bypasses, as well as repairing and even enhancing cognitive functions. _i09

The potential dangers of "wireheading" should be obvious -- dissociation from reality, total focus on self-pleasuring to the neglect of responsibilities and personal health. But the combination of neuro-stimulation with a face to face interaction, might present certain advantages in terms of "jump-starting" a relationship. And make no mistake, these brain chips would be a killer app for the teledildonics industry. It will not be long before they are connected to a wireless interface.

Just be careful who you lend the remote control to.

Cross-posted at Al Fin, You Sexy Thing!

Long Distance Sex? This Might Help

Modern long distance romances and marriages are made easier by low cost communications options available. But wouldn't it be nice to be sexually intimate with your distant lover even when 3,000 miles away? 5,000? 10,000? A convincing illusion of long distance sex may be closer than you think.

In the first experiment, the head of a shop dummy was fitted with two cameras connected to two small screens placed in front of the subjects' eyes, so that they saw what the dummy "saw." When the dummy's camera eyes and a subject's head were directed downwards, the subject saw the dummy's body where he/she would normally have seen his/her own.

The illusion of body-swapping was created when the scientist touched the stomach of both with two sticks. The subject could then see that the mannequin's stomach was being touched while feeling (but not seeing) a similar sensation on his/her own stomach. As a result, the subject developed a powerful sensation that the mannequin's body was his/her own. _SD

The subjects reacted with fear when the mannequin was threatened with a knife.

The effect even worked with another person--instead of a mannequin--used as the "host body." It even worked with persons of a different sex than the subject.

The object of the project was to learn more about how the brain constructs an internal image of the body. The knowledge that the sense of corporal identification/self-perception can be manipulated to make people believe that they have a new body is of potential practical use in virtual reality applications and robot technology.

Using the techniques of teledildonics, it is easy to visualize how remotely controlled teledildonic sex dolls or robots could serve as a "host body" for a distant lover, who still feels sexual sensations as if she were the one being touched and caressed.

It is the human mind's ability to suspend reality that gives such pleasure to novels, film, and the campfire story. How else does one explain the election of the narcissist-elect? The human mind is almost always ripe for self-delusion. Persons wanting to take advantage of that wish merely need to tune to the proper frequency. Getting a lot of resonating delusional minds into one auditorium or stadium amplifies the effect.

As for long distance sex, expect the technology which makes it possible to develop a bit more quickly than the actual application. But once it takes off, the only limit will be the speed of light.

Teledildonics, Nanotechnology, Cyber Sex

Most people have heard of teledildonics, the family of technologies that allows people to sexually stimulate each other from a distance. Presently the technology is limited to remote controlled vibrators and other simple machine stimulators. Eventually, the technology is going to get much more sophisticated. Science fiction can give us some ideas how it might be done.

Take the Star Trek shows featuring a "holodeck". You may have wondered how in the world solid objects could appear from empty space--even convincing simulations of walking, talking, touching, human beings. More than one crew member had to be reprimanded for fornicating with holodeck "beings." Well, at least one, and you can imagine how the stress of crewing a starship might lead to that kind of thing . . .

Anyway, you do not have to wonder any longer about the technology involved. There is a type of nanotechnology that has been theorised called "utility fog." Utility fog can sit in a room, invisible to the naked eye, then when activated it can simulate solid objects. Here is a list of links for learning more about utility fog and how it might be made and used.

There is quite a gap between a bluetooth controlled vibrator or role-playing cybersex, and a fully animated touch-realistic holodeck partner using utility fog. No doubt remote controlled realistic sex robots incorporating haptics sensors and actuators will attempt to fill the gap in the near future.

One related area where some progress is being made, is virtual reality. Check out this amazing video that demonstrates a virtual reality interface that actually allows you to move in any direction! Here is a short news article about this fascinating device called the VirtuSphere. With an interface like this, a haptic sensor/actuator suit, and advanced software, you would be set for a fairly convincing virtual experience--sexual or not.

The economic potential is there. Sexual programming propelled the home VCR market and continues to help drive internet commerce. Add in the population of game addicts and general escapists in the population, and you have a huge market potential.

Long distance relationships have always been very challenging to maintain, but with the coming of new virtual reality technologies, staying together while apart might become easier. Some couples might even prefer a "virtual" relationship, after trying it both ways. With virtual reality, you can change your appearance, or change the appearance of your partner, if you wish.

But be sure to keep your anti-viral software updated. Stay safe. :-)