We're already familiar with the ways to artificially restore our bodies to their natural peak. Wearing prescription glasses can correct your vision, and hearing aids can mitigate against hearing loss.
Now, new tech is on the way to enhance the human body and help us do more than ever before.
Users of these new technologies become an amalgamation of human and machine, augmenting their bodies to achieve things once thought impossible.
But these aren’t just conceptual devices, they’re emerging technologies that are – or soon will be – commercially available.
Take to the skies
Flight has long been a dream for humanity, from the Greek myth of Icarus to the flying cars in science fiction films like Blade Runner. But while personal flying tech may seem fanciful, it already exists today, in the form of the Gravity Jet Suit.
Though we once dreamed of rocket boots lifting us off the ground, these would (unfortunately) be inherently unstable. The thrust would be applied away from the wearer’s centre of gravity.
Instead, the Gravity Jet Suit uses five engines to gently manoeuvre the wearer through the air. Pilots are able to hover, turn and even fly short distances over water or land.
A 1,050-horsepower gas turbine on the back provides core lift, while two smaller jet turbines on each arm offer stability and control.
In 2021, the Royal Navy tested the suit in training exercises to explore its potential for ship-to-ship boarding operations.
See with your eyes closed
Human eyesight is relatively poor. Without light, we’re effectively blind. Night vision goggles, which allow us to see infrared wavelengths of light, have been around for a while, but now this tech has been miniaturised.
Scientists in China have created contact lenses coated with nanoparticles that absorb infrared light and re-emit it as visible red, green or blue light.
In tests, these lenses enabled people to see flashes generated by an infrared LED.
Strangely, the participants were able to ‘see’ the flashes better with their eyes shut, as the interference from visible light was blocked by their closed eyelids.
In the future, this technology could be adapted to help people with colour blindness see the colours beyond their limited visual range.
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Stride towards the future
Exoskeletons are wearable machines designed to boost your natural strength. Think of them as a kind of powered suit or a wearable forklift.
Though many of us associate them with the sci-fi film Aliens, they’re already in use today.
Sensors in the exoskeleton detect your movements and activate motors in the joints to provide additional strength.
Exoskeletons have already helped some people with disabilities walk unassisted, and now they’re being developed for warehouse workers to lift and move heavy loads more safely.
The tech is also finding everyday applications, such as helping people hike further or climb staircases that might otherwise be too challenging.
Get a better grip
Scientists from University College London have recently developed a glove-like device that gives the wearer an additional thumb.
This may seem redundant (most of us already have two), but trials have shown that the increased dexterity of an extra thumb allows people to complete certain tasks with one hand that normally require two.
Sensors beneath the wearer’s toes control how the third thumb moves. It currently doesn’t allow for haptic feedback, however, so wearers won’t be using them to carry eggs just yet.
Despite a third thumb not being part of our natural anatomy, in testing, most people have quickly been able to get to grips with it – only four people out of nearly 600 were unable to use it.
Control things with your thoughts
Brain control interfaces (BCI) are an emerging field of technologies that allow people to control computers with their minds.
By implanting an array of micro-electrodes into the brain, the neural signals linked to moving a limb can be interpreted by a computer to operate external devices instead.
This technology goes beyond simply improving the ability to operate a computer. It can also allow people with neurodegenerative disorders to have reliable control over their environment.
So far, this tech has allowed volunteers with spinal cord injuries to control a computer cursor simply by thinking about the movement of their own paralysed hand or arm.
The next step for these devices will be to precisely control the movements of robotic limbs. With BCI technology, scientists envision a day when patients with muscle atrophy and other degenerative conditions fully regain their motor functions.
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