Protocyborg
Definition
A protocyborg is a cyborg that "lacks full embodiment"[1]. For instance, a human translator sitting at a typewriter could be considered a protocyborg.
A draft of a cyborg. From a temporal standpoint, Steve Mann's early prosthesis was an attempt at an early cyborg model. Today, much of his capability is embedded into everyday cell phones and networks, making the modern industrial human subject fully embodied cyborgs.
Kevin Warwick, who began to call himself the "world's first cyborg"[2] after implanting an RFID chip under his skin, could be an example of a Protocyborg, but there is not too much of a functional difference between getting an RFID chip in one's arm, or one in a cell phone, which people find that more palatable at times.
In reality, people like Steve Mann or Thad Starner are much more fully embodied as Cyborgs. Though they do not have sub dermal implants, their use of technology is extremely symbiotic and is very much a part of them. Their consciousness minds have extended to also include the prosthetics that are omnipresent on their bodies.
References
- ↑ Gray, Chris Hables, ed. The Cyborg Handbook. New York: Routledge, 1995. Pg. 14.
- ↑ Kevin Warwick's Home Page. http://www.kevinwarwick.com/icyborg.htm
