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Forum Index : Other Stuff : Neil Harbisson - got to be fake!
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Gizmo Admin Group  Joined: 05/06/2004 Location: AustraliaPosts: 5078 |
OK, this has bugged me for ages. I thought I would throw it at the forum to get other peoples perspectives. A "artist" called Neil Harbisson says he has a device planted in his head to let him hear colour. Apparently the device is also wifi enabled. Never heard, of him? Just google his name. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_Harbisson Now I'm calling BS on this one. Despite being on several TV shows and radio interviews where he is taken seriously, I cant seam to find anyone else who also thinks its BS. Am I the only person who thinks the "implant" is nothing more than a collection of model plane parts and hot glue? The first time I heard of him was a radio interview. During the interview I though it was all a bit weird, but when asked how the device was powered, he said "magnets". Ting, penny dropped, its BS! Even if its a motion powered generator using a magnet, it's not going to generate enough power or be small enough to do what he claims this implant can do without shaking his head like a dog after a bath. Other questions arise. Where did the implant come from? Looks too miniature to be home made, remember this started in 2004, and this thing has a camera, wifi, CPU and "magnet" power source. If no doctors wanted to implant it, how did he end up getting it implanted? Problems with infection at the site? Why the bad hair cut? Apparently he has also installed a bluetooth enabled vibrating tooth. Seriously. So am I the only person who thinks this is a load of crock? What scares me the most is how the media interview him and not one of them is smart enough realise its a load of rubbish and this clown is a lair. Maybe I'm am wrong, my grasp of science it way off, and my phone is actually powered by pixie dust. Glenn The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, the second best time is right now. JAQ |
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| Boppa Guru  Joined: 08/11/2016 Location: AustraliaPosts: 814 |
https://www.cyborgarts.com/ I call BS His partner claims that her equipment can not only pick up an earthquake happening anywhere on earth (through her feet as sensors) but can even pick up moon quakes as well!!! Oh really???  |
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| Trevorc Newbie  Joined: 26/02/2017 Location: United KingdomPosts: 22 |
My Science Teacher told me not to believe anything unless it is proven to me! Ho Hum. |
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| Boppa Guru Joined: 08/11/2016 Location: AustraliaPosts: 814 |
I have seen real experiments where they were connecting data from cameras into probes inserted into the vision centers of the brain for blind people, sounds like this guy as heard of these and 'maybe' got some implants done by a dodgy doc, but his descriptions of their capabilities sound rather um... exaggerated Hey you get people doing all sorts of weird stuff to their bodies in the name of art- I have seen a girl with a forked 'snake tongue' in person and heard of a lot weirder, this guy seems to have a cyborg fetish, whatever floats ya boat.... But yeah, I seriously doubt his and his partners claims, to put it mildly |
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Grogster Admin Group Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9306 |
I'm sure it is just as accurate as the free energy devices all over You Tube..... Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops! |
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Revlac Guru Joined: 31/12/2016 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1024 |
By the description it would be like strapping a mobile phone to ya skull and have it set to vibrate, That would annoy the sh#t out of me, I don't even like to carry the thing around. To have such a thing implanted?, Prone to infections? I reckon its BS as well. Just about anything these days can be called art.  Ya beat me to it  Cheers Aaron Off The Grid |
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| ryanm Senior Member  Joined: 25/09/2015 Location: AustraliaPosts: 202 |
A lot of real technologies used. Bone conduction speakers have been around for decades. They've been used in hearing aids for quite a while as I understand it. You can even buy cheap consumer models now that rest on your skin against your skull near your ears. Sound travels through your bone to your ear and you can clearly hear music or speech, but someone a few centimetres away cannot. If he was using a primary lithium battery I don't see why it couldn't be fit on his little bobble and get a few days to weeks lifetime. It's crazy how low power things can get now and specially made primary batteries blow rechargeables out of the water if you've got enough money to keep buying them. IR and UV spectrometers are very small and now (although definitely not in 2004) cheap. No reason you couldn't have them interpret wavelength of non-visible light and generate a frequency in the audible range as an indicator via the bone conduction speaker. Patients that have to have frequent IV medicine or internal prosthetics can have some sort of "easy access panel" (for lack of a better term) put in I believe. I'm sure there is a risk of infection (as with any skin penetration), but obviously it's manageable. Using 2018 technology I don't see why his gismo isn't possible for a very experienced and dedicated engineer. There are people who make hand prototypes with 0201 passives and smaller. Watching a youtube video doesn't give you any idea how small and hard that is in real life because they have to have it under heavy magnification just so you can make out the parts. Even the weird tooth thing is very possible, just think of how small the electronics including batteries are in a set of modern bluetooth earphones that can stream HD music for 6 hours. I just wanted to point out that a lot of this stuff is perfectly possible with today's technology, but all that said it is my professional opinion that this bloke is crazy. Running down the street without pants crazy.... When 'magents' is a single word answer just walk away then, never ends well. There are even too many other just insane things to bother debunking. |
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| Warpspeed Guru Joined: 09/08/2007 Location: AustraliaPosts: 4406 |
One successful implant technology is the Australian invented cochlear implant that enables completely deaf people to hear. And its been used successfully for a very long time. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cochlear_implant Cheers, Tony. |
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