Eyborg; The Bionic Eye

Grant Morrison talks in his new book (Supergods), about the day when superheroes become real and we begin to imitate them rather than making them seem more real. Well there are those who are taking that to the next level and becoming more like video games rather than making video games more realistic. Canadian filmmaker Rob Spense lost his eye in a accident involving a shot-gun when he was 13! If that isn't bad ass enough, he has recently replaced his missing eye with a wireless OmniVision video camera between two layers of a prosthetic eye.The camera is only 3.2MM 328 x 258.Designed by Kostas Grammastis a former Space X engineer, this is the third iteration, boasting longer battery life and better picture quality. Images from the eye are broadcast on a handheld device. The duo have formed what they're calling The Eyeborg Project, describing themselves as; "A one-eyed filmmaker, and an unemployed engineer". Aside from making headlines for his new eye Spense was commissioned by Square Enix the creators of the Final Fantasy franchise to make a short film exploring the current cybernetics revolution made possible by all of the recently limbless veterans of the last decade of war. Square Enix wanted the filmmaker with the robot eye to investigate how close we are to the games dystopian future where cyborgs rule! I wonder if in this world we each have to obtain corporate sponsorship for our machine parts?

X-Ar; Almost Iron Man

As the news get's grimmer and grimmer coming out of Japan. We watch the news each hour hoping to catch a glimpse of a super-robot (you know) they have, to come and save the day. But, until then an American company is trying to compete in the "make everybody a cyborg", race. Very similar to the Hal exoskeleton that we told you about back in 2009! Equipois (don't ask me how to pronounce that), a California based company hopes to have factory workers and other people who do repetative heavy lifting, using these in the very near future. 

 

For around 2 to 3 grand anyone rich enough to consider that cheap can own one of these things and become a superhuman. Their website says officially that it will not make you a superhuman though. They claim it's  more for people who spend long hours extending their arms, like surgeons, and jewelers or dentist. Equipois  CEO Eric Golden (great name-can't be real), has hinted that a brain controlled interface could be easily attached to the X-Ar, but claims "they're a little bit away from kicking that off". The company states that it plans to further develop this technology to assist the disabled, such as veterans and people who are paralyzed. The company already makes a mechanical appendage that is kind of like a crude Dr. Octopus tentacle. Hopefully if this is successful they'll work on the aesthetic design as we inch closer to a full Iron Man suit!