io9: human augmentation

New Drug Helps People Grow Super-Brains

Michael Reilly — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 09:37:45 PDT

BrainCells, a new company based in San Diego, is testing several drugs that will give you a super-powerful, enhanced memory (and maybe other cognitive properties too) by growing more neurons in your head. Going simply by the names BCI-540 and BCI-632, the compounds can stimulate 20 percent more brain cells brain to grow than normal. Much of the new growth would be replacing cells that our brain is losing all the time.

The drug BCI-540 was originally an Alzheimer's drug, and BrainCells' CEO James Schoeneck says the company would mostly market it for helping people with degenerative diseases get their minds back in working order. It could work well as an anti-depressant as well. But in animals tests, BCI-632 has so far shown an ability to enhance memory functions in healthy lab rats. The company hopes to begin trials on people some time next year. Sounds to me like a great opportunity to be a guinea pig.

Source: Technology Review, Image: Omnispace.org

Monkey Feeds Itself With a Robotic Arm

Michael Reilly — Thu, 29 May 2008 09:11:17 PDT

A pair of monkeys at the University of Pittsburgh have taken a major step forward in futuristic prosthetics: they can now feed themselves by controlling a robotic arm with their brains. Using primitive brain implants that record activity in the primates' motor cortex, the monkeys showed they could manipulate a robotic arm to pick up marshmallows and other tasty treats.

As Pittsburgh researchers report in this week's issue of the journal Nature, humans have shown in the past that they can move cursors on a screen using a similar brain-machine interface. But by grabbing food and bringing it to their mouths, the monkeys are paving the way towards advanced neuro-prosthetics for people with permanent paralysis. Further down the road, you even could imagine able-bodied people using the technology to manipulate robo-arms or even full exoskeletons with their thoughts.

Source: Nature via PhysOrg

Images: University of Pittsburgh, The New York Times

Augmented Human May Compete in Beijing Olympics

Michael Reilly — Tue, 27 May 2008 09:35:10 PDT

Last year South African sprinter Oscar Pistorius blew people's minds when he came in second in a 400-meter footrace in Rome...without feet. Pistorius is missing the lower part of both his legs, and ran on two carbon-fiber "Cheetah" leg prostheses. A lawsuit followed (of course), and Pistorius was banned from international racing. But Pistorius appealed, enlisting the help of human augmentation guru Hugh Herr of MIT to dissect the argument that his Cheetah's gave him an unfair advantage in the race. Last week the Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld the appeal giving Pistorius the right to compete in this summer's Olympics in Beijing.

It's a landmark decision, and as Herr says below it's the first step toward recognizing that technology is allowing people with disabilities to become world-class athletes. Herr's argument is a bit technical but fascinating and worth a read through in this interview if you've got the time. If not, here's the soundbite:

TR: What are the broader implications of the CAS ruling?
HH: Oscar will be given the opportunity to qualify for IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federations)-sanctioned events. But broadly, it will be progress in the overall initiative to fully integrate people with disabilities in society. Some people in the world witness an extraordinary athlete that has artificial legs or arms . . . and they immediately think that cannot be so—disabled people cannot be this good at something. It never occurs to some people that Oscar may be a remarkable athlete. They think he has to be cheating.

There is so much to learn about how the human body works and, in addition, how the body is affected by a wearable device, like a shoe or prosthesis. The day that there is a prosthesis that outperforms an intact limb using any single metric—whether it is to jump high or to manipulate something—will indeed be a very exciting day.

Using awesome science to fight discrimination and wrong-headed public perceptions of what it means to be 'disabled' — nicely done, Dr. Herr.

Source: Technology Review

Photo: Ossur.com via playthegame.com

Real "Iron Man" Suits are Coming, but are Just the Beginning

Michael Reilly — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 09:33:00 PDT

"Iron Man" fans rejoice: real exoskeletons are coming. Japanese company Cyberdyne has plans to start selling their model, the HAL-5 Robot Suit later this year. The American company Sarcos has its own prototype out, too, so the race is on for new generations of exoskeletons that can do everything humans an do, only better (and fly, too). But while you're watching videos of the two exos performing jaw-dropping feats of strength, MIT biomechatronics researcher Hugh Herr is getting ready to blow your mind by building building prosthetic limbs that could have all the super powers of exos. For the moment he's focused on helping people with disabilities, but he thinks it won't be long before we'll be implanting "bions" inside our body and considering swapping out our biological legs for the shiny new pair in the storefront window.

Herr says we're less than ten years away from the leg-swapping scenario, and even closer to bions that directly sample the signals our brains send to our limbs to move them. Check out his awesome video here, or read below for the coolest snippets:

Probably two years from now, I will have a device implanted into my body called bions that measure the extent that my spinal cord has activated the muscles in my biological leg. Those signals will be sent out to a robotic artificial ankle system. I will be able to think and move my ankle...[Herr lost his lower legs to frostbite when he was 15]
I believe in the next decade we will have artificial legs that are better than human legs for running. The best amputee runner for the 100-dash is only a second slower than the world record with biological legs, and that's just with carbon composite, dumb passive springs...

We'll see this gradual merging of the human and technology and what will come out of that is a hybrid human that's actually better, using certain metrics. As tissue engineering technologies progress, we can imagine eventually replacing certain components of the prosthesis with biological materials.

It'll be a future where, when we architect a machine we'll ask 'for this component, should we use skin or should we use steel or a composite? what should we use? Inevitably I believe we'll end up with hybrid devices because it won't always be optimal to use synthetic components, nor will it always be optimal to use biological components.

Sources: Technovelgy, MIT

Image: IGN.com