In March 2013, the annual Emerge conference took place at Arizona State University (ASU), focusing on the future that technological development holds for humanity. That year’s conference title was “the future of truth,” and one of the invited guests was Neil Harbisson, who participated in a discussion on “our prospects as cyborgs.”
Harbisson is a British artist, raised in Catalonia, and permanently resides in New York. What has made him exceptionally well-known, especially among intellectual circles and technology gurus, is not so much his artistic work as the antenna he has permanently implanted in his skull, earning him the honorary title of “the first cyborg.” Harbisson was born without the ability to see colors, but with the device implanted in his head, which he calls “eyeborg,” he can “hear” colors—or so he describes it. The antenna captures sound waves, electromagnetic radiation, mobile phone signals, and audiovisual signals, while simultaneously having access to wifi networks. All signals received by the device are automatically translated into sounds transmitted directly to the skull of the “cyborg” artist. In 2010, he co-founded the Cyborg Foundation, aiming to “defend cyborg rights, promote cyborg mutations as an artistic movement, and support people who wish to become cyborgs.”
Before the conference, Harbisson gave the following interview to the organizers via email. The interview reveals things that perhaps you, and certainly we, were unaware of. That cyborgs are a minority, and moreover a persecuted one; that society must learn to accept technologically-induced diversity; and that the fate of a cyborg artist dining at Harrods is unbearable…
First, explain to us what the “eyeborg” is. What has it offered you?
Color is basically hue, saturation, and brightness. From birth I could see light in shades of gray, but I couldn’t distinguish hue or saturation. The eyeborg detects hue and converts it to an audio frequency that I can hear as a note. It also translates saturation into audio volume. So, if it’s a very intense red, I hear it louder.
How becoming a cyborg changed your life;
It changed the way I perceive the world. Color is everywhere, so everything changed for me. I still don’t see colors, but I perceive them. I can experience color in a way that allows me to become part of this reality from which I was excluded in the past. Thanks to the eyeborg, I built a career combining music and art. I give concerts where I connect myself to a set of speakers and play the colors that the audience sees back to them. I also started to perceive sounds as colors. Telephone lines have become green; Amy Winehouse’s Rehab looks red and pink. This is how I started to paint by depicting the sounds around me. I have created paintings with pieces by Vivaldi, Beethoven, and Mozart, among others. Now I am making a bag that will change based on your favorite song (using the same techniques I apply in my painting).
What does the word cyborg mean to you;
I believe that being a cyborg is a feeling. It is when you feel that the cyber-device is no longer an external element, but part of your body. Someone can feel like a cyborg by simply placing an infrared sensor on the back of their head that vibrates when someone approaches. If you have permanently placed a sensor on your body, the brain will gradually accept the new stimulus as an extra sense that enhances environmental perception.
You call yourself a cyborg activist. What challenges might cyborgs face that the rest of us are unaware of?
There is no legal protection for cyborgs. In 2010, I founded the Cyborg Foundation to defend our rights. Cyborgs have been thrown out of many places because they look like a potential security threat. I have been thrown out of places like Harrods [note: luxury department store in London], the Monte Carlo Casino, and many supermarkets. Most cinemas don’t allow me to enter, because they suspect I will film the movie. Some countries don’t consider passports valid if you wear any device in the photograph. In 2004 I was allowed to take a passport photo wearing the eyeborg, which made things much easier at airports.
Will we all be cyborgs in 100 years? Or will it remain a marginal phenomenon?
I believe that being a cyborg will be extremely common in 100 years. I believe that one of the most widespread implants will be those that enhance our perception through direct stimuli to the bones. We could easily place a cyborg ear directly on the skull bones to listen to music or receive phone calls, without blocking our biological ears. But the future goes beyond cyborg interventions. There will come a time when we won’t need such interventions to enhance our senses, our perception, or our abilities. The post-cyborg future will be dominated by extensive genetic mutations and the use of our own body as an energy source.
What political and social changes are necessary in order to make room for cyborgs?
The political and social changes are analogous to those demanded by transsexuals for decades. We need hospitals for cyborgs, specialized clinics for cyber-implants, where doctors and computer engineers work together. Now, if I can’t perceive a color, I don’t know whether I should go to an optician, an ophthalmologist, or a computer specialist. The biggest challenge for cyborgs is to become socially acceptable. Society must accept that there are people who wish to use technology as part of their body. We need to get used to seeing people with antennas protruding from their heads.
translation: Harry Tuttle
cyborg #10 – 10/2017