Disability in the current term concerns people not having a part of their body functioning the way it should. In today’s world Robotics tends to be given people a second look at what should be defined as a disability. Modern technology through Robotics is giving more ability to not only the disabled but all who will want to add more effectiveness to their body systems.
The advent of transhumanist technology will make people with disability appear brighter than people who are born without a disability.
What Is Transhumanist Technology And How It Relates To Robotics?
Transhumanist Technology is a technology that looks to given full transformation to the human body system to enhance his intellectual and physical structure. This entails using electronic components, among others to build a formidable human system that will surpass the natural human system in functions and abilities. This is hoped to give people a highly functional body system. The transhumanist proponents believe in applying science and technology to transcend beyond human limitations. Robotics is a key part of this technology. With bionics, a study that has to do with mechanical systems that are capable of functioning like parts of living organisms already available, revolutionizing what it means to be disabled may not be too far away.
There are technologies all around the world that will completely make void issues of disability and mobility problems among the disabled. Huge Herr, an MIT bionic designer once said people including the disabled shouldn’t accept limitations but should be prepared to transcend disability via technological innovation. These statements are not far from the reality we are faced today. The developments in Robotics and transhumanist technologies are already leading the path to take people out of the restrictive natural control to redefine what they want their body and abilities to look like with these technologies.
Typical Contemporary Developments In Robotics To Help Disabilities
Many of the assistive technologies today are better imagined or watched in the movies. But the reality is that they are here on planet earth and some people with disabilities are already taking advantage of them.
The Deaf Can Hear Again With Technology
It sounds like a magic kind of to find a deaf person having the ability to hear with the aid of a device. The use of cochlear implants in the disabled person enables this. The technological innovation creators look to the time when it will no longer make any meaning that somebody is suffering from deafness because the solution will readily be accessible to all.
The Blind Can See With Technology
The braille technology makes the blind read through a dot format system but a technology comes to give back sight to the blind!
The Bionic Technology has made it possible for the blind to see again! This sounds strange as well but really, it is already available in the market. With Robotics technology it is expected that blind persons will see objects even better than the natural human eyes. Already, a technology from the Argus II has this function to help blind people see. Some similar products are currently offered for sale on the market to help people with blindness see things just like others. It is hoped that the technology will be superior to what the natural human eye is capable of. This hopefully is expected to come to fulfillment in about a decade or more from now. The transhumanist world looks to bionic eyes being installed for people who want a better function with their eyes even if not suffering from any form of visual impairments. Getting this installed for the blind will surely be a huge transformation.
Paraplegics Will No Longer Need Wheelchairs
People with mobility disabilities or with no limbs will now be able to walk again without a wheelchair. Exoskeletons are already being designed to perfectly meet the needs of the disabled who cannot move around freely. There are already mind-regulated robotic arms which can function much like the human arms or even better. With transhumanist technology in place alongside robotics, the goal will be to have a transformation that will function even better than the human body with a good measure of precision. Exoskeleton suits are wearable suits to aid mobility and are in different types depending on the function desired. Exoskeleton can be designed for various occasions such as workplace, socials and comes in different textures.
All are driven towards independence and the powered exoskeleton is offering the solution to get off the wheelchair and walk up straight to meet people. A paraplegic, Sanchez who has been with the condition since 2004 after a BMX bike accident is elated to see the reality of robotic exoskeleton.
Autonomous Vehicles
We are all familiar with the driverless car. The car is capable of sensing its environment and move along paths without a human driver. People with a mobility disability will find this robotic design useful to help them move around in a vehicle even if they cannot move their limbs. Although this is a beautiful robotic application, ethical issues are still being considered whether the occupant is completely safe in such a car.
Application of the prosthesis technology also catches some attention. By prosthesis, it simply refers to the substituting of a lost body part with a non-natural extension. It is incorporating mechanical devices in the human skeleton, muscles or the nervous systems to help the body’s motor control that got damaged or lost through diseases or other means.
How The Definition Of Disability May Be Redefined?
It is believed in many circles of the technology world that the quality of life and human conditions leading to different forms of disability is as a result of poor or low technology. Herr opined that all who want to live without a disability should have a choice not to with technology. Based on what is already available with Robotics and transhumanist technology, disability may be redefined to mean what people have not taken advantage of to transform themselves to be more effective, physically and mentally.