How a Color-Blind Artist Became the World’s First Cyborg
Neil Harbisson can "see" in UV thanks to an antenna-like implant that boosts his perception of light and gives him super-senses.
From prosthetics to pharmaceuticals, humans have been using technology to alter their physical and mental capabilities for thousands of years. Now, with our rapid advances in technology, some people are embracing human augmentation as a means of expressing themselves and experiencing the world in a totally different way.
Over the last 13 years, he has been able to “hear” visible and invisible wavelengths of light. An antenna-like sensor implanted in his head translates different wavelengths into vibrations on his skull, which he then perceives as sound.
Often called the world’s first official cyborg, after the British government permitted him to wear his headgear in his passport photo, Harbisson says that such technological augmentation is a natural, and maybe even necessary, strategy for
