Unit 4: Medicine, Technology, and Art

From our learning from the previous unit, we've seen how technology has made robots and other machines more prevalent in our everyday lives. Although technology is more prevalent in the form of tools and helpers, we're beginning to see an increasing association of machines and the human body.

Prosthetic limbs have been around for centuries. For a long period of time they were treated solely as attachments to help people with missing limbs to carry on with their daily tasks. For the most part, people with prosthetic limbs were looked down upon. Recently, however, artists have taken to using prosthetics as a form of art and give their subjects a form of pride .

Anatomical Leg from the Alternative Limb Project

Technology has also found itself in our lives (literally) in the form of medical implants. There are small implants, like the RFID chip Dr. Kevin Warwick had implanted in his arm, that play a rather passive role in people's lives. More recently we've started to see a mix between medical implants and prosthetics. With developments in how we study signals sent through our nerves we have created bionic arms that can be controlled by the same signals that our natural arms are.

Brain-Controlled Limb from DARPA

In her TEDx talk, Diane Gromala describes the experience that virtual reality has on our body. With retinal implants, a similar concept can be applied to allow the blind to see again. For some people, what we can distinguish as a distinct difference between art and science must be blended together in order benefit their lives.

Retinal Implants that Use a Patient's Real Eyes

Despite the fear that some people have of machines and how far they've entered today's society, the incorporation of technology with the human body acts as a strong argument against that fear. Are we less human if we have an artificial limp or have a chip injected into our arms? It is another case of making our lives easier and using our own ingenuity to improve the lives of human beings.



References
Anatomical Leg. Digital image. The Alternative Limb Project: Imaginative and Bespoke Prosthetics. N.p., 2015. Web. 25 Apr. 2015. <http://www.thealternativelimbproject.com/>.

Brain-Controlled Limb from DARPA. Digital image. Popular Science. Popular Science, n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2015. <http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2011-08/building-my-dream-bionic-body?image=5>.

Curative Powers of Wet, Raw Beauty. Perf. Diane Gromala. YouTube. TEDx, 7 Dec. 2011. Web. 25 Apr. 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRdarMz--Pw>.

"Kevin Warwick - Home Page." Kevin Warwick - Home Page. University of Reading, n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2015. <http://www.kevinwarwick.com/>.
Nosowitz, Dan. "State of the Bionic Art: The Best Replacements for My Flimsy Human Parts." Popular Science. Popular Science, 23 Aug. 2011. Web. 25 Apr. 2015. <http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2011-08/building-my-dream-bionic-body?image=5>.

Retinal Implants that Use a Patient's Real Eyes. Digital image. Popular Science. Popular Science, n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2015. <http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2011-08/building-my-dream-bionic-body?image=5>.

Vesna, Victoria. “Http://www.youtube.com/v/Ep0M2bOM9Tk.” Lecture. Medicine pt1 . Youtube, 25 Apr. 2015. Web. 25 Oct. 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ep0M2bOM9Tk>.

Vesna, Victoria. “Http://www.youtube.com/v/psjnQarHOqQ.” Lecture. Medicine pt2 . Youtube, 25 Apr. 2015. Web. 25 Oct. 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psjnQarHOqQ>.

Vesna, Victoria. “Http://www.youtube.com/v/FIX-9mXd3Y4.” Lecture. Medicine pt3. Youtube, 25 Apr. 2015. Web. 25 Oct. 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIX-9mXd3Y4>.