Rob Spence lost his eye in a shooting accident as a child. Later on in life he had his eye socket molded to see how much space was available. Spence’s friend, a former engineer at SpaceX Kosta Grammatis, helped develop a camera system that could fit into the space. Ultimately, the design was built by the companies Omnivision and Powerstream. A protective, eye shapped, shell enclosed the camera system.
Spence, now can use the eye to film what he sees in real time. At the moment, the resolution is 328 x 256. The camera transmits the video signal to a hand held media device; it is not connected to his nervous system. After the successful installation of the artificial eye, his friends dubbed him “Eyeborg Man.” Afterwards he was inspired to connect with other people using artificial body parts. He made his first documentary based on his meetings other body part replacement users. The achievements are stunning.
One completely blind person uses a sensor board placed in the fine layers of his eyes, letting his see basic shapes. Another person uses robotic hands, similar to the recent iLimb user in the UK. Another amputee uses two artificial legs and states how he would like to be able to climb stairs. (This documentary was done before the combo knee/ankle prosthetic was announced.)This is followed by the demonstration of the artificial/robotic knee by a Finland based company.
Whether it is robotics and bionics that help people regain their lost functions or it comes from genetic engineering of new parts, science is pushing for everyone to a completely functional and productive life. In some cases, the users of prosthetics can perform actions outside human limitations. As the film asks, will we see people volunteering for replacements in the near future? I can see it happening.
Cabe
The documentary was made in promotion of the video game Dues EX Human Revolution. But I think it plays better as a good way to show the “now” state of prosthetics and technology for the disabled.
