Mechanical inplants lets make some predictions

[Kecunk]

Its a fairly common science fiction trope that in the future people will use mechanical implants to enhance their bodies and with how fast technology is advancing these days it wouldn't surprise me to see something like that attempted in our lifetime

I mean they all ready have implants for medical purposes to help the disabled ect but for this topic I want to talk about implants made for no reason other than superficial convenience.

So what do you guys think will be the first piece of technology somebody will try to implant into their body?

 

[Pinkamena]

Obviously, the first bionics will be made for helping people with disabilities. Such as robot limbs, artificial eyes, speech implants, et, which is already starting to crop up. But these will all probably be inferior to the real deal for a good while, and why would you deliberately replace a part of your body with something that's worse?
But ok, lets imagine a Deus Ex:HR future where superiour body parts exist. I assume the first things to passnthe "better than the actual body part" will be relatively simple things, like feet or something. Maybe organs? They're in high demand from what I can tell.

Also schlongs. A whole new genre in porn would be invented.

 

[Asclepion]

People have already implanted magnets into their fingers so that they can sense electric fields.

 

[DefunctTheory]

People already have optional implants including the magnetic fingers above, and one fellow who had a chip put in his hand so he can wirelessly control the cursor on his computer with his mind.

If your talking about honest to go mechanical limbs... it's going to be a long time before people do that for the giggles. We have to overcome maintenance cost (nanotech instead of monthly maintenance of pistons and artificial muscle?), weight restrictions, strength and dexterity issues, power issues... it's insane.

And then there's the biggest hurdle - you have to find an insurance company, a hospital, and a doctor willing to accept the liability that comes along with hacking a piece of a person off for no real reason. That's probably going to take the longest.

As for what will be first, decade upon decade from now... probably an eye. Easily removable for maintenance, mechanically uncomplicated, and low power consumption.

 

[zen5887]

You know those Jawbone things you can buy that monitor your sleep and your steps and what you eat and that kind of stuff? I don't think we're too far away from implanting those (or at least making them more permanent) and having the data uploaded to a google glasses type deal. Like, imagine working out and you can see your heart rate and progress as a HUD kind of thing.

There is a filmmaker who turned his artificial eye into a videocamera. It's not really on the same scale as a working robot eye, but it's a pretty neat concept.

It won't be something that pops up overnight but it will definitely be interesting to see what happens.

 

[Irony's Acolyte]

Well it's not like there aren't people out there right now with artificial organs. And that'll just continue as the tech gets more able to mimic other important body parts. As for more aesthetic implants, there are people out there who spend a lot of money to have themselves altered to "look better". Including breast implants.

I think being able to hook up to your various electronics with personal implants will become fairly common. Who needs touch-screens when you can directly interface using your nervous system. I know I'd certainly be up for something like that. Though admittedly I'd be pretty interested in having a lot of various implants, if I had the money to spare of course.

 

[Darks63]

Iver already heard of low resolution Eye implants for the Blind so it not like this concept is super future tech. Also the field of prosthetics is always advancing so a neural cybernetic link problaby isn't too far off either.

The first likely enhancements will be for military applications. If you look at history these ting most often start at the military and then filter into the civilian area. I'm thinking something like dermal plating and Cybereyes ala shadowrun for enhanced combat performance will be the first uses of it.