Future Type Thoughts

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Vakanai
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Future Type Thoughts

Post by Vakanai »

Or Future Type Things I Think About! Anyways, this seems like the right place to dump all my random futurist/singularity/transhumanist thoughts and ideas, from near to far future and what not (look, I love saying "what not" all right; other Vakanisms to look out for include "and jazz" and "thingies"). So yeah, I'm going to slowly just roll out all the things about the future that typically just live rent free in my head - first up, one of the most exciting superpowers the future promises us, super vision!

Alright, so the way I figure it is that there's three kinds of vision enhancements that the future will bring:
  • 1. Eye Enhancement - Vision enhancements created by enhancing the existing eyes themselves.
  • 2. Eye Replacement - Vision enhancements created by replacing the existing eyes, whether with superior biological or cybernetic replacements.
  • 3. Neural Enhancement - Vision enhancements created not by messing around with the eyes, but with the vision processing of our brains. Think BCIs, and probably used mostly for "full dive" VR and telepresence-ing.
If anyone can think of another would love to hear what that would be.

I'm going to focus on the one we will (hopefully) see in the near future, Eye Enhancement and basically how we're going to be adding to the existing eye in this decade and the next (yeah, that's how near future this one is). Interesting to note that we can further break up Eye Enhancement into two subcategories - Vision Enhancement aka seeing better with more clarity like making things out further away (I'd also chalk up like night vision and similar seeing more wavelengths than normal as this type), and Vision Assistance aka things that don't actually improve eyesight itself but puts useful information in view (read Augmented/Mixed Reality and HUD). And I'll be delving into both in this post (or two posts if I run over the word count).

So the first one is the hardest imo, even though it might be the least technologically advanced of the two. Usually because improving human baseline vision would probably entail eye surgery I think. Right now most "vision enhancements" aren't improving the baseline but restoring vision - glasses and contacts currently in use. The best thing for if you want to see better than a normal human is to tote around a good pair of binoculars, which isn't very convenient. But the future is coming. Probably.

There's a company called Ocumetics (https://duckduckgo.com/?q=ocumetics&ia=web) and their "Bionic Lens" (https://duckduckgo.com/?q=bionic+occula ... F20&ia=web). Now before going forward, I just want to state that I'm not sure on these guys. I checked out a bunch of articles and they seem legit, but there's also a lot of skepticism out there and their claims of 3x better than 20/20 vision is hard to believe, so do your own research. But if true? In the future we can get their lens implanted to have far superior vision than any other human alive today not looking through a binoculars, and that superior vision will remain with us for the rest of our lives even if we live to be 100 and go through the same degenerative force of aging every other 100 year old has gone through to date. It's hard to express how impressive this could be if true.

Ocumetics claim this will be achieved with a specially designed lens that replaces your natural lens like already happens during cataracts surgery, but unlike with existing intraocular lenses this one will be accommodating (meaning it will change shape by being anchored to your eye muscles, the same way your natural lens does when you change focus to look at things closer or further away). Now, I'm not an optometrist and my understanding of how the eye works is still firmly in the "Intro to Biology" level, so maybe someone smarter can figure out if this has the potential to actually make good on these claims or if it's overhyped or worse a total scam, and I'd love to hear the thoughts of someone more educated in this area - but if they're not full of BS and this works as advertised and I can chuck my glasses in the trash and see better than I did even as a child with good vision? I would definitely save and scrounge up my money and go under for this level of visual enhancement.

And if this doesn't pan out? Hopefully some other people will develop a similar concept that does work. But for now it's pretty exciting stuff to think that by decade's end I could have far better than 20/20 vision.


Now closer to fruition and just as interesting and more of a sure thing is Vision Assistance - the cyberpunk AR HUD of our dreams! Now there's a lot of smartglasses either on the market or being developed, so the tech already exists and is in use right now. But it's kind of clunky, early days and far from mainstream. This won't hold true for long however - Apple is rumored to be releasing a Mixed Reality headset this or next year, and a pair of smartglasses in 2024/5. Basically once Apple drops a product the masses adopt, so the field is going to shift soon. There's a lot of applications in AR I'm interested in - having maps and GPS directions in view without having to look away from your direction into a phone (dangerous), subtitles for real time speech or signs (good for translations and the hard of hearing), highlighting certain objects and formations for the hard of seeing (also good for just feeling like the Terminator), having people's names pop up when they come in view (good for those with memory problems - or those like me who have just always been real bad with names), and having certain health information up in view (combined with other wearables I could know what my blood sugar, pressure, and cholesterol levels are in real time - that'd be freaking sweet).

Like I said, unlike Vision Enhancement where Ocumetics is the only game in town working on this that I know of (seriously I love this stuff so if anyone knows of others I'd love to learn of them please) there's a lot of players and will be players in the field of Vision Assistance, with Apple being the one set to take it mainstream. But one company and product I am especially interested in is Mojo Vision (https://duckduckgo.com/?q=mojo+vision&ia=web) who are currently the only ones developing smart contact lenses at the moment instead of headsets and glasses. Their CEO is actually testing these contacts out on his own eyes right now, which is impressive and shows just how close these things are to market. They're going to focus primarily on the visually disabled and the competitive sports communities first, so we might not get to buy or want the first generation or so of these lenses ourselves, unless you're hard of seeing or are a pro athlete, but they have plans for a more general consumer product as well.


Whether Ocumetics and Mojo Vision or some completely different companies, the fact is that in the very near future (like within this decade near) we can be rocking better than 20/20+ vision and have visual information to make the Predator blush. Super cyborg transhuman vision, one of the most interesting superpowers we've ever dreamed of imo is coming online this decade and I don't think the general populace is aware of just how exciting this is! Yes current smartglasses and headsets are bulky, unstylish, and more gimmicky than useful, but things are changing fast and we're on the cusp of sci-fi vision like we've never had before. Outside of longevity/immortality and a full prosthetic body, this is the part of the future that most excites me. Vision is our most useful, beloved, amazing sense, and it's about to become a whole lot better.
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funkervogt
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Re: Future Type Thoughts

Post by funkervogt »

Enhancement of the human sense of smell would be interesting. We already know that other animals like dogs are more sensitive in this regard, and can detect smells that are too faint for us to notice, so upgrading ourselves to their level would merely involve studying them and making the necessary genetic alterations to humans.

Additionally, the human sense of smell could be upgraded so that we are better at discriminating between different scents. Consider this "Table of organic compounds and their smells" and notice how many of them smell the same to us in spite of their molecular differences:
https://jameskennedymonash.files.wordpr ... ls-w12.pdf

Imagine if we had more types of receptors in our noses and brains, allowing us to differentiate between, say, pentene and hexene.

I think a combination of genetic engineering and cybernetic augmentation of our central nervous systems will grant humans these kinds of enhanced smell abilities in the distant future. Imagine how much richer the world will seem to them.
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caltrek
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Re: Future Type Thoughts

Post by caltrek »

One science fiction plot idea that I have sometimes played with is that of the engineered superhuman. Such superhumans would not only have enlarged brains of increased efficiency, but would also have highly developed sense organs of greater efficiency than that of most current humans. So, they would have a heigthened sense of smell, touch, superior eyesight, etc.

Kind of like what others here post concerning transhumanistic technologies, but with more of an emphasis on biological engineering.
Last edited by caltrek on Tue Aug 09, 2022 11:58 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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citali_
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Re: Future Type Thoughts

Post by citali_ »

A.I. bands!
Indie singer/songwriter
https://youtu.be/Q_NhbSsz9ko
Vakanai
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Re: Future Type Thoughts

Post by Vakanai »

When I started this thread I meant to update it more regularly, but this was around the time some...life stuff came up. And while that's ongoing I think I can post more often again.
funkervogt wrote: Thu Jul 14, 2022 1:54 pm Enhancement of the human sense of smell would be interesting. We already know that other animals like dogs are more sensitive in this regard, and can detect smells that are too faint for us to notice, so upgrading ourselves to their level would merely involve studying them and making the necessary genetic alterations to humans.

Additionally, the human sense of smell could be upgraded so that we are better at discriminating between different scents. Consider this "Table of organic compounds and their smells" and notice how many of them smell the same to us in spite of their molecular differences:
https://jameskennedymonash.files.wordpr ... ls-w12.pdf

Imagine if we had more types of receptors in our noses and brains, allowing us to differentiate between, say, pentene and hexene.

I think a combination of genetic engineering and cybernetic augmentation of our central nervous systems will grant humans these kinds of enhanced smell abilities in the distant future. Imagine how much richer the world will seem to them.
Funny you should bring up the sense of smell - something that I've thought about is this https://spectrum.ieee.org/digital-nose- ... -in-stereo, smelling in stereo seems to be an enhancement that's coming. I don't know how useful such a thing will be, or if anyone will want this in their nose for a long period, but it's fascinating stuff either way. Sure, it doesn't increase our ability to smell different things, but more easily telling where a scent is coming from has some interesting uses I think.

I fully expect future humans, near future like within the next 30 years, to use advanced versions of these, smart contacts, and "hearables" to greatly enhance our senses. And your contacts, hearables, and scent prosthesis will communicate with each other allowing you to pull up all sorts of information. Paired with a BCI of some kind and we might border on the superhero. Imagine a rescue worker after a major disaster like the recent earthquake in Turkey. They could pinpoint the location of a trapped victim by scent alone, be able to hear their breathing and thus have a rough estimation of their health, and see multiple angles to best dig through the rubble to free them. Just through improved senses alone lives could be saved in a disaster.
caltrek wrote: Thu Jul 14, 2022 3:22 pm One science fiction plot idea that I have sometimes played with is that of the engineered superhuman. Such superhumans would not only have enlarged brains of increased efficiency, but would also have highly developed sense organs of greater efficiency than that of most current humans. So, they would have a heigthened sense of smell, touch, superior eyesight, etc.

Kind of like what others here post concerning transhumanistic technologies, but with more of an emphasis on biological engineering.
For a greater sense of sight through genetics we'd have to look no further than birds.
For hearing and scent I'm less sure. I know dog's have a great sense of smell, but not sure how much of that is due to structure - most people probably don't want to grow a snout.
citali_ wrote: Tue Aug 09, 2022 11:12 pmA.I. bands!
I imagine that such will closely resemble Miku Hatsune and other Vocaloids, only they'll be more interactive and engaging while creating their own songs based on your individual tastes.
Vakanai
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Re: Future Type Thoughts

Post by Vakanai »

Some news updates on my opening post, the tech I was most convinced was nearer future, Mojo Vision's lens, has been put on hold (https://techcrunch.com/2023/04/05/after ... -4m-raise/) while the one I was more skeptical of, Ocumetrics, has completed animal studies (https://www.investorsobserver.com/news/ ... 2863544347).

I admit I'm a little upset that the smart contacts seems to be dead for now, but it was always going to be limited in what it could do this decade and was going to need an external device for most of the actual computing. Smart glasses really seem to be the more immediate future of cybernetic superhuman vision ala Terminator/Predator/Iron Man etc. And rumors are flying that Apple is going to push smart glasses into the mainstream within the next few years, so guess we'll see. Meanwhile Ocumetrics might one day actually deliver on the promise of three times better than 20/20 vision with a fairly simple procedure, so maybe I can pair that with Apple Glass or whatever for the full cyberpunk effect. I'll be keeping my peepers open to see how it develops, because enhanced vision really is just one of the coolest aspects of My Future Body™.


And speaking of My Future Body™, something that's fascinated me ever since I discovered a year and a half to two years ago is this wicked little prosthetic for the still able bodied, the Third Thumb!


I picked this video because it goes more into the research angle and brain plasticity that a lot of my whole GitS "full-body prosthesis" dreams are pinned on. Now the Third Thumb is operated with both big toes, but in the future I see such an expansion of the human body being controlled with a BCI like Neuralink or Synchron or whoever crosses that finish line and makes good. There's other videos out there showing people using this thumb, and it's mind blowing the things that can be done. Many two handed tasks can be done one handed with just and extra thumb. It's not as good as another arm and hand, but it's the next best thing. With future augmentation you could have a fourth thumb as well, two per hand. The tasks you could perform could be superhuman. This opens up the human body plan to all sorts of incredible adaptations we could make, giving ourselves abilities we hadn't considered before. Just something as an extra opposable thumb adds usefulness for relatively little cost. Who knows what our bodies might be capable of decades from now?

Or you might replace a hand with a tentacle. Tentacles are cool https://nerdist.com/article/innovative- ... appendages.
Vakanai
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Re: Future Type Thoughts

Post by Vakanai »

There are things I think of that I expect to see become possible and feasible in the next ten to twenty years like the enhanced vision I talked about before, or the mild yet cool cyborgization of something like Third Thumb. And then there's the age old dream of having an extra pair of hands which is so far out there that my most modest estimate of when such technology may become practical is 50+ years. I've been googling and looking over videos of "extra arms" and "robot arms" and "robot arms for people" and various other word configurations for supernumerary robotic limbs you can wear on and off for the past three or four years now only to walk away so disappointed with what I saw each time that it made even the 50+ year estimate seem naively optimistic. Seriously, everything I saw was bulky, loud, and so awkward and cumbersome that far from resembling the sci-fi dream I long for reminded me more of some dystopian hell - seriously these usually mounted on your shoulder monstrosities appeared to be such a hindrance to the scientists, engineers, and robotics/cyborg/bionics enthusiasts that you could palpably feel their desire to take the damn things off. Those arms just got in the way with no good use case for why anyone would want to wear them. And I mean anyone - even the disabled I imagine would find the things more annoying and impractical/unhelpful and more in the way than not compared to other more traditional options out there. Really, they just appeared to be that bad. And then yesterday I stumbled on this...



This thing looks amazing, it looks elegant and dare I say it even beautiful. Although it also shows nothing in the terms of practicality yet - unlike previous supernumerary robotic limbs I've seen the video doesn't show either of the human women use them to pick up a red or orange ball (the ubiquitous stand in for "can grab something you want to grab") nor used it for closing a door while your arms are full (the standard "practical use case" these things typically try to show off). Honestly, these arms kind of do nothing but move slowly and clunkily to the girls' dance routine and help provide a sort of awkward hug.

But...that's also kind of a good thing? Because they focused instead on the important aspect, the one thing that no prior robot limb add on has tackled before but they all probably should have done first before trying to tackle on the practical stuff first - they got out of the damn way! No one is going to use arms that are an actual hindrance and burden to mobility just to pick up a ball or shut a door, and again even the disabled currently have better options with traditional prosthetic arms and helper dogs frankly. Jizai arms though are different, they have a more natural form factor with the backpack Doctor Octopus take instead of the "bolt something clunky onto your shoulder or hip" designs I've seen before (although the bolt onto hip designs might have actually looked okay if the arms used in those examples weren't such bulky cumbersome things). The arms best I could tell through a very brief cursory reading were run by AI and the dancers' movements - no clue if either girl could actually try and get those robot hands to attempt to grip a cup for example. But again, just the fact that the arms weren't in their way is the real game changer here - that's huge and more designers in the future need to take inspiration from that! Design these supernumerary limbs to conform to the human body in such a way people will want to wear them or at least not feel so encumbered wearing them, and then try to get the arms to actually function.


Now this is still early days yet. The arms well less clunky and smoother than anything I've ever seen before in this space are still slow, and I'm sure that outside the added music for the video these things are probably loud and their whirring robot arm noises were just muted for effect. And I'm sure like me you couldn't help but notice the power cord trailing this thing, it is not battery powered. And again, the arms weren't shown picking anything up or pushing anything open or closed or really interacting with things. That still needs to come I imagine. But it's kind of like an Ameca moment - that robot hasn't done anything, hasn't performed any action of use like we see from Boston Dynamic's humanoid robots. Ameca can't parkour, or even walk for that matter, no legs. Ameca can't lift a box, or at least hasn't been show to like other humanoid robots. All Ameca has done is mastered realistic motion and expression - and there's not even an AI behind that, every motion and expression is human controlled at the moment, the thing is just a sci-fi looking animatronic puppet. And yet we watch those videos and get excited anyways, because despite the actual practical applications being missing right now, it's cracked the visual aesthetic and the form factor - Boston Dynamic's humanoid robots are intended for factory work, with the long term goal of replacing human workers from mundane work so no one has to look or interact with, and no one really wants to interact with these big bulky somewhat headless things that frankly look like murder bots despite the dance routines. Ameca though looks like something, or even someone, you want to interact with. People want to talk to Ameca, even though there's no Ameca AI to really talk back, it's just some guy at the computer telling Ameca what to say back. Jizai arms are like that, you can't use it to actually do anything, or at least it hasn't been shown to do anything yet, but you still want to wear it, and that's more than I can say about any other arm in this space.

And yes, having extra robot arms one day is so 100% a huge dream of My Future Body™.
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