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lectures > lectures spring 2002

The Body Electric

Speaker: James Geary
8th June 2002

A 63-year-old Belgian woman totally blind since the age of 57 can now see lights, shapes and colours. A 30-year-old Dane paralyzed from the neck down in a motorbile accident, can now hold a cup, lift a fork and grasp a pen. These are two of a handful of people around the world who have had computer chips implanted in their bodies to extend, enhance or repair their senses. Melding advanced computers with the human nervous system might also one day provide us with bionic senses, such as the ability to see infrared radiation or feel objects at a distance. And by linking neurons in the brain directly to silicon chips, we might one day be able to control appliances by thought alone. Drawing on fields as diverse as artificial intelligence and biology, this talk will provide an exciting insight into the people and technology making this merger of man and machine possible.

James Geary is a senior editor with Time Magazine in London. His book The Body Electric: An Anatomy of the New Bionic Senses is published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson.

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