- [narrator] this is what the cyborg future looks like. almost everyone is enhanced with technology. many even surgically upgrade their bodies with powerful bionics. computerized eye ilants not only sharpen vision, but immerse users in seamless, augmented reality. cognitive devices connect brains directly to artificial intelligence, exponential boosting intellectual capacity. widespread machine integration is redefining what it means to be human. - my brain is melting! today, scientists are blazing a trail to this very future.

- these devices are gonna make us more powerful, more independent. (angel gasps) - [angel] i wanna know what breakthroughs are being made. - it's aadio that captures your thoughts in real time. - i'm improving the human body by implanting devices into it. - at will forge the future to- look ma i'm a robot! the cyborg revolution. (spirited theme music) my name is angel giuffria, and i am a cyborg.

a combination of human and machine that acts as one. i was born without part of my left arm, and i've been wearing a prosthetic device as long as i can remember. they used to call me the bionic baby. this was my first ever multi-articulating hand. it was the big jump from this one grip pattern, this tripod, to being able to change the grip. when i flex the muscles, lets you move the hand. as my arm muscles move, they affect two electrodes resting on my skin, which allows me to control my bionic hand. four years ago, i gomy cuent prosthetic hand and it's been a real game changer. it gives me finer motor movement, and multiple ways to grasp things. as someone who's started to merge with a machine, i can see that it both defines me, and i define it. but i wanna find out how cyborg tecology like this will evolve for the entire human species.

how far will the merging of man and machine go? and what will our cyborg future look like? my first stop on this path to the future is a personal one. at the john's hopkins applied physics lab, they are developing bionic limbs even more advanced than mine. costing upwards of $120 million to develop, the modular prosthetic limb or mpl, is state of the art. i'm really excited about today, because we get to see the mpl hand system, which is something i've wanted to see for almost a decade. i think i've dreamt about seeing this hand. engineer robert armiger is combining robotics, neuroscience and artificial intelligence to make devices that will change lives around the world. it's here in real life! - [robert] that's right. - unlike my prosthetic arm,

the npl is designed to be upgradeable and it can be customized. it's also more dextrous. - we've really tried to build in to this hand, all of the movements of the human hand. so see that each of the fingers, has basically the abity to separate orpread the fingers here. these two are coled together, this one moves independently. it's fixed. all the fingers have a drive that flexes each finger, and then they've got this mechanism that allows 'em to passively curl around an object as well. - that's cool. i didn't know that existed. it even has a powered flexible wrist. i want flexion extension so badly. i don't have flexion extension, i only have rotation, which is fun for a party trick, but i can't actually bend the wrist, so when i'm trying to put my hand in my mouth and stuff, i have to lift my shoulder. so when i see stuff like the flexion extension in that wrist, it makes me really excited that i could have it for my hand one day.

bobby lets me test drive the mpl. first, he places arm band sensors on me. like my prosthetic arm, these bands contain electrodes, which record andranslate the muscle activity in my little arm. - we use electrodes that can pick up what's called the bio-potentials of the human body, it's sort of the electricity that is flowing through your body to send commands to and from your brain. - with eight times as many electrodes as my arm, these bands allow for much finer pattern recognition from my muscles. - instead of just piing up gross muscles, so these big muscle movement it's picking up smaller, fin things. today, i'm getting a feel for some novel gestures and new capabilities. - all right, so when you're ready, you're gonna start recording. no movement orest state. - okay. (hand whirs) - well that's okay, it's learning the first time. so it may sort of confuse what you're doing, 'cause it's never seen this pattern before.

you're introducing something new. - a computer inside the mpl reads the muscle movements from my arm and translates these complex patterns into movement in the robotic hand. this is really cool. the machine is learning more about me, and fast. so i'm sending different muscles, impulses, trying to see how much control i can have over it, of the slow and fast. i'll try do this one. that's cool. (laughs) this cyborg future emerged through the needs of wounded veterans and other amputees. - johnny matheny is one of the individuals that we has spent probably the most time with the modular prostheticimb, and he has really been able to show the capabilities of the arm, 'cause he has a surgical procedure that not only allows us to map the arm or attach it directly to his bo, but then he's had the nerves in his arm rewired

so that his control is natural and intuitive. - so what's next for it? - the fingertips are set up with active sensors inside of each of the nodes. what we've been working towards is some of the sensory feedback or stimulation to your arms. so you'll be able to actually feel what that the hand is touching. - okay(laughs) my brain is melting. without any feedback from my prosthetic hand, i can't tell how hard i'm grasping an object. like holding a styrofoam cup or trying to grab an egg, where you're like, "don't crush it, don't crush, don't crush it, don't crush it." the team at johns hopkins is working on this very dficult problem. bobby's colleague, dr. luke osborn, is enhancing the mpl's features with something called the e-dermis. this incredible techlogy promises to simulate the sensation of touch. - think about how much we rely on our sensation of touch,

not just for grabbing objects, but also interacting with other human beings. e-dermis was made to mimic the way our natural skin behaves and essentially we have different layers, and within those different layers, we have different receptors. - [angel] inside the skin, nerves detect pressure, pain, heat, stretch, anvibration. the e-dermis is made from flexible fabric and rubber, and inside of it, tiny sensors detect various stimuli and translate them to the body's nerves. - time tput it on? - one or my osthesis? - on your prosthesis. - uh, yeah! i've never really had that kind of feelings on the side, from touch and stuff. so it's also a little scary, but exciting. - when i press on your fingertip, i can see the actity on the screen. sof you we to grab an object, we could see what the sensor activityould look like if you were to naturally pick up something.

(hand whirs) - (gasps) that's so cool! luke's computer displays the pressure patterns from the e-dermis for this sensation of touch. when these same signals are transmitted directly to my nerves, it gives me a sensation i've never felt before. it absolutely blows my mind. and it's like, pulsing right here. this is really cool. i think seeing this just makes me realize that we're on the path of doing some really, really awesome things. a bionic hand with a fine sense of touch will change lives and completely reshape the future. - the potential for this technology could be not only used for rehabilitation, but also for projecting yourself into some remote environment. - [angel] like a remote control iron man, bobby imagines a future where an arm like this could be used to perform complex tasks from just about anywhere.

- [narrator] in the future, advanced dextrous bionic arms are a common feature on most robots. these worker bots perform complex and delicate tasks in environments too hazardous for humans. from hundreds of miles away, skilled operatorremotely perform nuclear cleanups, fight fires and even repair the space station from the safety of earth. - [angel] mechanically enhanced humans have long been popular in sci-fi stories and superhero comics. as a partial machine myself, i'm excited by the real superpowers that our cyborg future will bring. but in everyday life, making cyborg technology work seamlessly with the human body, it's hard. when it comes to enhancing the human body with technology, balance is essential. weight, speed, strength, these are all factors that must be considered

when designing and engineering wearable robots. at ekso bionics, jason jones is taking on the daunting challenge of bringing man and machine into sync. - our main purpose is to enhance human capability through robotics primarily. so either for medical purposes, or for industrial. - [angel] they've developed several true to life exoskeletons. - in my lifetime, i think you'll see more of people being augmented by machines. the approach we're taking is, instead of replacing people, let's make it so they can do more. if they want to, they can work in their older age because they have enhancement. - jason's colleague zach haas shows me exactly how their exoskeletons boost worker productivity. this model is already being used in factories. - see how it feels. - i feel like i'm supposed to be really, really strong now, now that i have this on. - this is designed to really give super human endurance. - okay. i'll take that. - so now as you go, raise your arms, you'll feel it kick in.

- oh okay, yep, yep. - feel it? - yep. - what's it feel like? - like my arms are free floating. - there you go, that's the key word there. - this free floating sensation happens with mechanical spring driven technology, which reducestrain on the arms from repetitive motion. (drill whirs) it's so wild, i can absolutely feel the power and how it transforms industry. but for some, it might be intimidating. do you think there's a little bit of fear in the idea of presenting some of these technologies? - yeah, a little bit of sort. there's just this idea that, is this a robot? am i robotow? am i working with a robot? what does that mean? it's a machine that we're now strapping to your body. it's gotta work with you and you've gotta work with this. - a little bit more personal? - a little bit more personal, so yeah, there's definitely more sense of trepidation there, but once people see the benefits, a lot of that disappears pretty quickly. - look ma, i'm a robot! (laughs) not only do exoskeletons boost human productivity, they can also restore locomotion to those who've lost it.

i'm gonna get to meet somebody who uses one of these exoskeletons and has this whole interface with technology like i do. at the age of 32, jess mcnair experienced multiple strokes and lost the ability to walk. - it affected the right side of my body. it also affected my balance and visionretty severely. it's been a journey. - with theelp of physical therapist, jen macievice, this exoskeleton is changing jess's future. - one, two, three, push! (device beeping) - so cool. - can you explain to me what is actually allowing you to do things? there's basically four motors, there's motors at the hips and then at the knees, anthe ankle doesn't have a motor, but it actually allows us to position her for greater balance. - that's really cool. - so it allows someone to be fully weight bearing,

but also supported in a frame in a proper biomechanical position. all right, jess, do you wanna start the first step with the interface over there? (device beeps) (gentle spirited music) (device beeping) - that's so cool! an onboard computer uses feedback from sensors in the exoskeleton and sophisticated gorithms process that feedback and then apply the proper amount of movement to each biomechanical joint. this coordination of man and machine represents a tremendous breakthrough. the exoskeleton is teaching jess how to improve her gait. - we want them to be able to walk again, we want them to be able to step out of the device

with a better walking pattern. - what do you hope to see in your lifetime? - the goal is to make it smaller, lighter, more adapted to the human body and less apparent. - so you want it to be more of a part of you then? - exactly. yeah. more bionic. - [angel] exoskeletons like these have hble origs. earlversionsf this technogy were unky at st and seem laughable to me today. - [narrator] one may witness a scientic endeavor to convert a man's legs into those of a git. - [angel] but every evolutionary path must start somewhere, and our cyborg future is advancing fast. the team at ekso would know. they've also developed exoskeletons to assist with punishing physical outdoor tasks. - carrying large heavy loads over long distances. or increasing endurance, that kind of thing.

- [angel] these powered exoskeletons can help a person carry a 200 pound pack swiftly across rugged terrain. incredibly, the wearer would only feel a mere fraction of that heavy weight. - these here are hydraulic cylinders and they basically are kind of like a parallel muscle with they quads, so you can press down harder, if you're walking up a hill for example, it'll give you a little effication. the design attempts to amplify your force. so if you're applying a certain amount of force, and it would add to that to offset the effort that you're putting into it. - that's really cool. - in the back, there's electronics in here, and there's a hydraulic pump and control systems. - and then you talk about mud and rain, obviously the electronics. - yeah there are pretty big challenges in those. - i have those challenges myself. (laughs) future versions of this cutting edge technology will someday be widespread. - i think in the future, you'll see many people wearing assisted devices on a daily basis. i'm almost certain that those devices will be controlled at some level through teraction

with the human's nervous system or their brain. - [angel] by enhancing our bodies with advanced robotic exoskeletons, we're taking a step closer to the cyborg revolution. - [narrator] in the future, miniaturized power boosting exoskeletons are integrated into custom garment. with the press of a button, superhuman strength and endurance is available to everyone. this body augmentation reverses the decline of old age, restoring youthful vigor to anyone who still has a passion to work or explore. - in our cyborg future, wearable machines will augment our physical selves, and wearable computers will augment our minds with instant access to worlds of information. i would wear wearables. yeah. how will advanced wearable computers impact the way that people work, learn, and interact with their world?

to find out i've come to atlanta to meet a true pioneer in wearable computing, thad starner. - for me, the real killer application for these wearable computers isugmented memory. machines that become part of your mind, give faster access to knowledge, make you stronger in the sense that you have all this formation you can use to help you in your day to day life. - so this was the first thing you worked on at mit? - right. most people had no idea why you'd want a mobile computer, 'cause ltops weren't even out there yet. - [angel] while attending mit, he became frustrated by his inability to retain what he'd learned in class. so thad built this augmented memory system to take better notes. - you ready? - oh i'm gonna put it on? (both laugh) (energetic electronic music) - so bring your fingers around like this. there we go.

that is my daily suit in the year 2000. so you'd have this plus a car phone, plus a seven pound lead acid battery. - do i look really stylish? - actually looks pretty good on you yo tell you the truth. (both laugh) - though retro now, thad's system had a portable computer, typing device and a heads up video display over one eye. - i found that once i had thability to take notes in class and especially this rtable system, i took notes in person to person conversations. and that's one thing computers are horriblet right now is assisting you during this sort of interaction. but having a heads up display, you only use it when you need it, and it keeps your eyes in the world around you, and i find it to be really a good augmentation of e convertion. - [angel] the heads up display overlays information within the user's field of vision. the system can be used to access applications or the internet. it can also augment your surroundings with information that only you can see.

thad eventually led a team that turned this tech into a commercial product, google glass. - that's the first functional one. we had to glue a cell phone to the side of our head to get a track pad that worked. - that's wild! advanced smart glasses like these are making workers more productive in industries like manufacturing and healthcare. and it's easy to see why. beaming information directly into the eye, the wearer can work on complex tasks, all while absorbing crucial information, hands free. - it's actually lasers in the side here, that bouncing off. if you get just right, you can actually see a little mirror here. it's kind of hard to see. - oh yeah, yeah. - and so it bounces off the lens and back into your eye. - that's so cool. breakthrough technology like this is getting smaller every year. en now it's being developed for contact lenses. the mojo lens is less bulky than smart glasses and completely invisie to others. when paired with a smartphone,

they not only display information for the wearer, but also improve eyesight. - in the future, we'll see the technology disappear, it'll become widespread. - [angel] to bring man and machine even closer into alignment, thad is developing another cyborg technology that actually teaches the body and brain new skills, with no training or practice required. - this idea of being able to passively train these skills is something that's new, we haven't heard of it before. these are what's called muscle memory gloves, and they teach you skills like how to play a piano without your active attention. - how does it- (laughs) what's happening? - okay, so lemme show you the gloves here. so what we got in here are little vibrating motors that are above the fingers. - oh, things are happening. - yep. (lively electronic music) - these vibrating motors emit a particular sequence on my fingers. this stimulates and trains the muscles in my hand to do something i've never done before, play the piano.

- so she has a glove on right now, and what it's doing is it's using the vibration motors to actuay tap each finger in the sequence of beethoven's "ode to joy". you'll have that muscle memory in your brain. - after the glove has trained my hand for a half hour, it's time to see if it worked. i don't play the piano, so this'll be inresting. okay. (laughs) - soet's take off the glove here. she's gonna put her hand down, and we'll see if she can do it. we're kind of excited to see what happens. you're gonna start there. (piano note plays) - [angel] ok. - so try your hand. (piano plays) - [angel] having never learned to play the piano before, i've gotten the hang of it pretty quickly. by training the muscles in particular ways, these gloves rewire the brain, giving the user a jumpstart in developing fine motor skills for just about anything. - and we've been able to do that, not just for piano pieces, but also for things like typing, for braille.

- [angel] muscle memory gloves are already changing lives. - one of the things we're excited about is the rehabilitation si of these gloves. we can help ople who have had partial spinal cord injury. - [angel] like this man. the glove is en rehabilitating scle coordination r people who've experienced strokes. - you can actually stimulate the hands, such tt people regain some sensation or dexterity. i really believe that these on-body devices are gonna make us more powerful with more independence. - [angel] wearables like these that augment the mind and train the body with new skills will usher in a cyborg future for all of us. - [narrator] in the future, doctors wear muscle memory gloves in advance of complex surgeries to enhance precision and dexterity. e devices are tailor programmed for each procedure to passively train the surgeon's hands.

during the operation, augmented reality contact lenses provide a dynamic 3d roadmap of the patient's body. as a result of these protocols, success rates have soared 98%. - external machines won't be enough to make the merging of man and machine mplete. we'll need to surgically integrate the technology inside our bodies. to experience this integration myself, i'm outside seattle to meet a controversial bio hacker. he's offered to implant a computer chip inside my body. i'd heard a lot about it from some other people that i had met within this trans-humanist community, which is a group of people who believe in changing and upgrading your body. like most trans-humanists, bio hacker amal graafstra believes technology will fundamentally change the human spees, helping evolve beyond our current physical

and mental limitations. - i'm improving the human body by implanting simple devices into it. and then it changed my capabilities as a human being. at's bio hacking. - [angel] amal has turned himself into lab rat for his own inventions. he has five functional devices implanted across his body. those are implants? - these are implants, yeah. and you take a four gauge needle, make a pocket and then just slide it in. - very cool. - there it is. so this is the new size of this prototype, this huge one. giant 35 millimeter diameter implant, right? - that's a big one. - that's a big one, i've had it for a while. - [angel] each chip serves a particular purpose. - this is like a pment card from the eu, i'm converting them into implants for people. - imagine that, pang all with a swipe of your hand. but integrating machines into our bodies has led to a lot of resistance. so from when you first started out, do you feel like people have gotten more receptive.

in general, yes. in 2005, when i put this in my left hand, the first one, the reactions were very visceral. "what are you doing?" "you're crazy!" "oh, we should gut 'em!", you know? "he's supporting the government!" "new world order" that kinda... (angel laughs) and now, you tell somebody on the street "i got a chip", they're like, h, i heard about that." - however, as society becomes more receptive to the idea of cyborg technology inside the body, new ways of using it will emerge. by incorporating magnets into his body, amal has found that he's created an entirely new biological faculty, giving him an unprecedented sixth sense. your magnet was able, you were able to feel the fields- - yeah, magnetic field. - you adapt to that. - yeah, you adapt to it immediately. and that to me, again, says that this is part of who you are now. - the implanted magnet rewired how his brain and body experienced reality, giving him a new magnetic sense. - i took it out after about a year, and there was a real sense of loss.

- amal's not the only one out there in these uncharted waters. cyborg artist neil harbisson has a cyborg antenna implant, which senses colors, including ultraviolet and infrared. the implant allows him to both feel and hear colors as vibrations inside of his head. engineer, kevin warwick had a chip implanted in his arm that directly connected his nervous system to the internet. it's clear we're already on the path towards the fullntegration of man and machine. where do you think technology's going in general? - on one hand, it's very exciting and cutting edge, but also it's nothing new. human beings have always been leveraging technology since we picked up rocks and sticks, right? it's just that technology been external. the technology that's gone into oubodies has always been kind of medical and restorative. and this is an enhancing, augmentati technology. so the's some tridation about breaking the skin barrier

for a non-medical need. but overall, the trend for human beings is to make technologies that enhance our capabilities. - [angel] with my bionic arm, i know this to be true firsthand, but getting another enhancement under my skin? i'm not so sure about. - [amal] you ready? - i am... yeah. i'm ready. - yes? okay. - the answer is yes. - the answer is yes. okay, good. here we go. (gentle suspenseful music) - [ang] amal is implanting a vivokey chip into my fleshy hand. - [amal] take a deep breath. here we go. (suspenseful music builds) yay. - this new impnt will give me a unique electronic siature. very cool. (upbeat music) with it, i'll be able to unlock all kinds of devices and pay for things with a simple swipe of my hand. i think that there's gonna be a point

where everyone's chipped at some point. - there's gonna be something. it might not all be the same chip, some people might have like a glucose reader, some people might have something else, some people will have a cognite implant. and to the point where we just put it in our bodies and it becomes part of who you are now. yeah. i love that. - [ael] let's see if this thing actually works. - [amal] so go ahead and press the button. (phone beeps) and now back of your hand, across there. (phone beeps) just like that. - cool. integrating chips like these into the human body will unlock doors to our cyborg future. - [narrar] in the future, multi-feature chipmplants the size of a pinhead replace most wallets and mobile phones. everyone just swipes their hands to pay, unlock everything and confirm personal identifation. e magnetic sensor enhances oentation, operating like a compass. it lets users feel direction. no one ever gets lost. biosensors measure vital signs and blood chemicals.

at the first sign of a health issue, physicians are notified for preemptive treatment. - it's pretty easy to see how cyborg technology can improve the body. but integrating it into the human brain is a far more complicated and dangerous task. neuroscientist. dr. john donoghue is forging the difficult path to this very future. - we're in providence to meet with dr. john donoghue, talking about implants, like i have the implant in my hand. he puts 'em in your brain. (laughs) john led a pioneering team that created one of the first brain computer interface devices. it's called braingate. - we actually peer into the brain and look at thinking about movement. when we first put an electrode in the brain, we didn't know whether somebody could control anything. - [angel] to decipher the connection between thought and tion, john implanted the braingate device in matt nagle, a quadriplegic.