The human body is like a gadget

Phrases like "technical progress", "advances in electronics" and "new technologies" have long become such a beaten stamp that nobody pays attention to them. Approximately the same as in the "mechanical" dialogue "- How are you? - Normally." Moreover, because of the wording of the formulations themselves, it is taken for granted that progress really does not stand still, scientists and engineers create new and improve the old. In our technocratic civilization, this is a completely normal and natural process. Moreover, in the field of individual electronics and gadgets, progress consists not only in the growth of power and the appearance of new functions, but also in gradual miniaturization. Thinner, lighter, more inconspicuous. And here you can ask an interesting question: why is this trend so strong? It seems to me that there are not only obvious reasons for this.

Captain obvious

For a long time, gadgets (read, mobile phones) were far from the concept of “comfort” in size and weight. The inconvenience of wearing weighty boxes motivated designers and engineers to create more compact devices.
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The miniaturization of the element base over time has allowed the creation of a new class of wearable devices — handheld computers.



By the way, not to mention the highly specialized handheld computers from the past:



New technological processes in the creation of processors and advances in environmental design made it possible to more and more refine the appearance of gadgets, increase their speed and expand capabilities. The next jerk after the PDA was the appearance of smartphones. Soon the glamorous smartphonemaking of the planet and the unrestrained “voting by the ruble” on the part of progressive humanity led to the complete introduction of tablets. It is very interesting to observe how interspecific crossing leads to the appearance of various hybrids, for example, phablets.

However, the flywheel of miniaturization is spun and unstoppable. Smartphones rested in the anatomical limitations of a person and gained more or less stable width and height. However, the thickness continues to decrease, which is beginning to adversely affect the mechanical stiffness of the gadgets.

Faster, thinner, what's next?

Mass announcements of "smart" watches and fitness bracelets recently marked the next stage of miniaturization of gadgets. But what will be the next stage? I would venture to suggest that it will be smart clothes. Today, the industry is ready to offer almost all the components to create such a literal word, a wearable gadget. Including flexible screens capable of repeating the outlines of our body.





It seems to me that from the point of view of an ordinary person, and not a geek who is enthusiastic about technical progress, such a degree of miniaturization will become almost excessive. After all, in order to work comfortably with the gadget, its controls and software interface should be as ergonomic as possible, that is, as closely as possible correspond to the anatomical features of a person. The clearest example: the transition from mechanical buttons and stylus to control fingers. After all, what could be more natural? And here it is appropriate to recall the implicit reason for the miniaturization of gadgets, which I mentioned above. Despite the fact that our civilization has gone along the technological path of development, a person still has a subconscious craving for natural existence .

Let me clarify my point: any individual electronic device is not only a convenient tool that gives us new opportunities. At the same time, it is a kind of analogue of a crutch, prosthesis. We are increasingly becoming slaves of our high-tech toys, more and more dependent on their helpful, so convenient help. And the more helpless we feel, suddenly finding ourselves without our favorite smartphone. This dependence on electronic gadgets is unnatural for humans. Despite tens of thousands of years of evolution, we, somewhere very deep, continue to feel a part of the biosphere , not the technosphere . Of course, someone more, someone less. And this deep self-identification forces engineers to make gadgets more and more subtle, easy, more and more imperceptible for a person , until he wishes to use them. To create the illusion of freedom and naturalness of existence .

However, the benefits and dependence of modern man on gadgets are so great that to abandon them means for the city dweller to doom himself almost to helplessness and social isolation. Therefore, the most logical option is to make gadgets as inconspicuous as possible for a person. That is, embed them in your own body.

I think this idea is confirmed by engineers at Ericsson, who created a prototype of data transfer technology with the whole body . According to the developer, the bandwidth of the “channel” reaches 10 Mbit / s.



Before them, in the mid-nineties, they worked on the idea of ​​transferring data through the body to IBM , but today Ericsson has advanced the furthest in that direction.

One example of gadget integration into a human body is a tattoo with a microphone , a patent for which was obtained by Motorola. Theoretically, this way it is possible to place other components on the body (camera?).



Agree, it is tempting to get rid of all sorts of devices in your pockets and bags, turning yourself into one big gadget. True, many people will reject this idea. And who knows, perhaps it makes sense for manufacturers to run their inventions on ... people with disabilities. People who have lost limbs, can become a kind of test benches and "agents of influence." Moreover, a start has already been made: this man has successfully built a smartphone into the prosthesis , and now he does not have to look for a flat surface to use the gadget.



Of course, this case looks more like a handicraft, and the future belongs to much more complex, complex multifunctional prostheses. Imagine a “hand” in which a communication device with all the features of modern smartphones is embedded. In this case, a much more capacious battery, high-performance “stuffing” and additional devices can be placed in the prosthesis. In fact, nothing prevents you from today turning the most ordinary into a prosthesis into an electronic analogue of a Swiss knife. And thanks to the success in bionics, healthy people will envy the owners of artificial limbs.

Of particular interest are technologies that enhance our vision. After all, we get the most information about the world through our eyes. One of the ways to expand the functionality of the eyes are high-tech contact lenses. For example, allowing people to see in the infrared spectrum . And who among us did not want to have a vision like the Terminator, when a lot of data is transmitted directly into the eyes. The contact lens display will no doubt become a revolutionary invention.



Of course, the lens does not formally correspond to the thesis of the integration of the gadget into the human body. But the implant, which allows you to control the focusing of the eye, will completely force you to reconsider the words from the song “a scent like a dog’s, and an eye like an eagle!”. Although still a lens with similar functionality is much closer to me personally.

Another direction of development of gadgets are biochips implanted in the brain. In recent years , such experiments have been repeatedly carried out , in which paralyzed people participated. Today, the goal of this research is to give an opportunity to communicate with the world to those who, for various reasons, have lost the opportunity to communicate independently. But at the same time, biochips can (and certainly will) be used to empower healthy people. For example, to control technology, including remote.



And if it comes to the ability to transfer data directly to the brain ... Perhaps, the next step will be the creation of a cyborg, and this is a completely different story.

Finally, I would like to mention here one important aspect, which is somehow forgotten behind all these developments, experiments, ideas and dreams. When introducing electronic gadgets into the human body, it is of particular importance to provide them with electricity. Of course, the human body itself produces electricity, but it is unlikely that it will be sufficient for the operation of a complex electronic device. One solution to this problem is to use the Seebeck effect , through which you can charge the batteries of the integrated gadgets: