Better late than never? Because what I posited in that original thread actually wound up coming true.
I was thinking about this last night, about what it would take to create a "Man of 2022," someone augmented with the best (noninvasive) technology we have right now (regardless of commercial availability).
What I came up with:
• Wireless Earbuds
• Wearable Smartphone
• Brain-Computer Interface
• Smartglasses
• Powered Exoskeleton
We have all of these available to us in some form, as I hoped we would, but not all are easily available.
#1: Wireless earbuds. I personally use wireless headphones just because they're easier to keep up with, but I do plan on making the plunge into earbuds soon enough. Still, the song played is that of wireless technology. It allows for ease of motion, plus wires look pretty kitsch (wirehead cyberpunk fantasies notwithstanding). You can get wireless earbuds for under $30. They're so normalized that we've forgotten how futuristic they are. Compared to 2014: we certainly had wireless earbuds back then as well, but they were far more expensive.
#2: Wearable smartphones. Again, we're so used to smartphones that we've forgotten that they are essentially pocket supercomputers. For the purposes of this thought experiment, we have to imagine pairing them up with said wireless earbuds without it being too obtrusive. Luckily we do this all the time via arm straps. I have such a holder. You can get them for under $10, or simply tape your smartphone onto your arm if you're feeling particularly cheap. An alternative is the smartwatch, yet another futuristic innovation that no longer feels futuristic. Compared to 2014: again, we obviously had smartphones in 2014; we even had smartwatches in 2014 (I remember my distinct sense of awe at seeing them that year and realizing that they were already becoming passe to people). Indeed, when I said I have a smartphone holder, guess which year I bought it. It was entirely because of that original thread that I decided to get a smartphone holding strap just to revel in the sense of having some sort of "wearable tech."
#3: Brain-Computer interface. Probably the most advanced technology possible to have, the kinds of BCIs we're playing with are of an entirely new generation.
You can get EEG headsets for any range of prices, from under $50 for certain toys all the way to several thousands of dollars for higher end tools. But $200-$400 is the price point for things like Emotiv or OpenBCI's headsets which you can train to write text and play simple video games.
As for the REALLY interesting stuff, the MEG and fNIRS headsets, those are much more expensive. But they're certainly coming. I can imagine that next-gen MEG headsets will allow us to write with our thoughts at one word per second at least, if not faster than that. And that's among other tasks like controlling electronics— such as, say, using a phone or smartglasses.
Compared to 2014, I had no knowledge of the different kinds of BCIs besides EEG being noninvasive and the direct-brain stimulation methods being invasive. I was focused on noninvasive BCIs and imagined a superpowered $100,000 EEG headset shaped like a Gray alien head that one could wear. As it turns out, you CAN feasibly get something like the Kernel Flux for around $100,000 (estimated at least), and it certainly has an alien-like quality to it, but you won't be able to bring it anywhere you wish.
#4: Smartglasses and XR HMDs. This is what excited me the most in 2014, not the least because of the hype wrought by the Oculus Rift and its followers, giving us things like Meta Pro's Space Glasses, Avegant Glyph, CastAR, and more. Unsurprisingly, the HMD space has blossomed and advanced in the decade since then, and it's become clearer that augmented reality in 2014 was a magic trick, whereas it's on the verge of commercialization now. In fact, it already HAS begun commercialization
It's just one of many, and much more advanced glasses are coming soon.
So that dream I had of walking around my college campus wearing smartglasses circa 2014 is possible now. You can get these for $599. I can only imagine the capability coupled with a good BCI.
Compared to 2014, the HMD space is vastly more advanced in every regard. The dream of the MetaPro Space Glasses has finally come to fruition, and the embarrassing failure of Google [Gl]Ass is all but forgotten.
#5: Powered Exoskeletons. We heard of exoskeletons all throughout the 2010s, and the most famous pair was Cyberdyne's HAL Suit, but only because of the name of the thing. These days, it is possible to snag a powered exoskeleton for an actual dollar amount, but unfortunately it's a bit pricey— tens of thousands no matter who you go with. My personal favorite has to be Sarcos Guardian XO, but that's one of the most expensive of the lot at $100,000 a year. Still, even personal computers cost thousands upon thousands of dollars in the beginning.
Compared to 2014: It's still early in the development of exoskeletons, but we're further along than we were in 2014 all things considering.
All in all, it is possible to become a techno-augmented cyborg in the year 2022 if you have enough money. It'll be cumbersome all things considering and I certainly wouldn't go about my daily life this way, but give it another 20 years and that might be a different story.
Starspawn0 addition: There are also cochlear implants and visual-to-touch "monitors". About visual-to-touch monitors: people have run experiments where little arrays of skin vibrators that vibrate if the corresponding pixels in a video image are "activated" (i.e. if an object passes in front that pixel). Over time, people's brains and skin tactile neurons rewire so that they are able to recognize images just given that tactile input.
So, you can have eyes in the back of your head, by placing these arrays on your back, and then putting a tiny flat camera on the back of your shirt. Nobody could surprise you, as you'd be able to see from all angles.