Top Transhuman Trends and Stories of 2009 – Part One

As we enter 2010, I’d like to take a look back at the previous year to take a look at some of the major technological developments that will play a role in our transhuman future – and are easing the transition. In no particular order, please find part one of the Top Transhuman Trends and Stories of 2009:

Rise of the Smartphone

While people have had access to smartphones for some time, 2009 saw an explosion in the popularity and level of adoption of these devices as nearly every mobile carrier focused on promoting these phones and their accompanying unlimited data plans. While top-of-the-line smartphones used to cost hundreds of dollars, these devices can be found at very affordable price points today, and the creation of “app stores” has given customers new ways to customize their mobile experience. Our smartphones now serve as our “exobrains” and enable us to store and access vast amounts of information, navigate unfamiliar areas and communicate with the world. In addition, improved processing power, always-on Internet connections, GPS capability and cameras have also led to practical and useful applications of augmented reality. That leads to…

Useful Augmented Reality

While there may have been demonstrations of AR prior to 2009, this was the year that finally got the technology into people’s hands and made it useful. Applications like Yelp and Google Goggles use the capabilities of the latest smartphones to access reviews of businesses around users and perform searches using pictures, not words. Marketers also discovered how AR could enhance their products, and we saw innovations like AR-enhanced baseball cards and toys that provide additional levels of interactivity.

Transhuman Films Hit the Festival Circuit

Like him or not, inventor and author Ray Kurzweil has been perhaps the most visible and prolific singularitarian/ transhumanist thinker, and has been a great influence on many, including yours truly. Kurzweil has raised awareness of radical longevity, the singularity, and the technologies that will bring them about, including nanotechnology, artificial intelligence and gene therapy. Given his influence, it is perhaps unsurprising that someone would create a film exploring his ideas. That happened this year with the unveiling of a Kurzweil biopic, Transcendent Man, on the festival circuit. Next year we’ll see the theatrical debut of The Singularity is Near, written by Kurzweil himself.

Progress in Advanced Prosthetics

For too long, progress in designing prosthetic limbs has been slow, forcing injured soldiers to rely on 50+ year old technology to replace missing limbs. Driven at least in part by the number of soldiers maimed in combat, development of advanced prosthetic limbs, especially arms and hands, saw massive progress in 2009. We’ve seen arms that, for the first time, approximate the use of the original limb they are trying to replace – complete with the ability to be controlled by the user’s mind and provide tactile feedback in lieu of actual touch. We’ve also seen prosthetic legs that arguably give disabled runners an advantage over their nondisabled competitors.

To be continued…