Cyborg implants for all

Yeah yeah.. I haven't posted in a while. Not due to lack of cool things going on or no ideas.. just due to a busy life and laziness =P

Anyways.... this is one of my all-time favorite topics, on which I could go on forever, but I will try really hard to keep this short and to the point.

One of media's favorite cyborgs.

Many movies, TV shows, books, computer games, etc. present a future for humanity where humans are technologically augmented. Super strong muscles, extreme load-bearing limbs, fast reflexes, eagle-vision, amazing healing capabilities, and the ability to download information and control computers with our brains - these are just a few of the visions of what a cyborg of the future would have. Technologically-enhanced humans.. - oh how we wish we could make ourselves better and have superpowers.

Enter the present day cyborg - likely a limb-loss victim, a diabetic or epileptic patient, or a monkey. Prosthetic limbs are the cyborg "parts" that have probably made the most progress to date (I guess except for insulin implants), but they by no means are as good as a real limb just yet. Without going into too much details about current cyborg-y research, the main theme that unites most of it is the goal of regaining lost function. Limbs, kidneys, hearing and vision aids for those who have lost their natural counterparts.

Modern day cyborg

Now, while this is an important area in medical research and would give many people the ability to live normal lives again, what about the healthy individual? Maybe we want to have some sort of nifty implant that would give us a cool extra ability? I'm sure (one day in the far future) we would all want to have enhanced memory, strong muscles, and other augmentations I mentioned above. The problem is that the majority of research is focused on regaining function, not on augmentation. And yes, there is a difference and a problem there... Not only in the type and NUMBER of individuals that are used as subjects and would be the potential "customers", but in the way the world views the whole idea of cyborgs. Implants or artificial limbs are still seen as something of a crutch, something unnatural (even profane). More importantly, the people who would eventually use the products are relatively few compared to the population of the world as a whole, keeping costs high, limiting the research capabilities of  companies and laboratories, and thwarting innovation. This type of research is expensive!!! What we need is a popularization of "cyborg parts", with the companies doing the research being able to earn enough to keep the innovations coming for both healthy and impaired individuals.

Here's my point - I think that if we really want to one day have normal healthy individuals want to have cyborg augmentations and for those with impaired function to have comparable regain in function, we have to start portraying that kind of stuff as something not only useful and safe, but "hip". Basically, here is what I think may need to happen:

1. Person/company (start up or already existing) comes up with a simple "second skin" or attachable electronic "implant" - a customizable tatoo, a UV measurement patch, a watch display - something that wouldn't be invasive and give some sort of benefit/function to the user, like a smartphone, that the user would like to have with them at all times. Lots of possibilities here.
2. Have celebrities/show hosts/athletes/etc. use it and make it cool - or advertise a lot. The widespread use will be important to drive prices down and make it acceptable to people. 
3. Having a "rockstar" of the company/movement would be helpful - think Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg etc. Someone to represent and embody the movement and products.
4. Come up with something slightly more invasive/complicated/useful and repeat steps 1 and 2... If the company/companies make a lot of money and the market opens up for competition - this will drive innovation for making cyborg implants for the common individual as well as those who are impaired.

One important obstacle here is that unlike Apple or Facebook, a company that makes implants will actually have to be more like a pharmaceutical or medical device company in the sense of the types of testing and research that it does. Once the implants have to actually be surgically implanted, there will need to be LOTS of testing done before a product comes out. BUT, if the company concurrently provides products which are minimally invasive and are safe, it will be able to make enough money to support the research on more complicated cyborg parts. That of course depends on the product being popular. 

Borg?

Of course, it will still be important to continue research to help those with lost function, and I think that if above company/companies were to make enough money to be able to do a wide variety of research, medically-relevant applications would be more feasible than they are today.

Anyways, this is just something I've been thinking about lately, and I think that would be one way towards a future where most humans are augmented in some way. 

Anyone want to do this with me? :)