• A_Union_of_Kobolds@lemmy.world
    80·
    3 months ago

    I want to be a cyborg but after seeing how tech, especially software, has developed (like, I don’t even really want to buy a new car because how tf am I gonna fix it), I don’t think I can trust it. Imagine if your ears’ firmware just stops being supported.

    Any cybernetics would have to be built for me by a hobbyist with a workshop full of Raspberry Pis or something

    • TranscendentalEmpire@lemm.ee
      10·
      3 months ago

      Yeah, plus the “cutting edge” prosthetic tech we currently have is mostly overhyped marketing.

      There are about a dozen powered prosthetics I always see on social media that always look really cool and the “patients” always go on and on about how useful it is…What people don’t realize is those “patients” are being paid by the manufacturer, and usually part of the deal is that they get the limb for free.

      They don’t tell you about having to wear a heavy battery pack that only lasts for a couple hours. They don’t tell you that you have to pre-program routines like tying your shoe laces. That you have to purposely concentrate on flexing residual muscle groups in your limb to activate those routines. Nor do they tell you that the majority of patients who own those devices usually revert back to a manual prosthetic for functional tasks, or just choose not to wear a prosthetic at all because they can achieve more function with their stumps.

      While prosthetics have started looking more futuristic and functional, unfortunately we haven’t really advanced any technology that actually improves function and utility since the late 90’s. And I highly doubt we’ll ever make a prosthetic that provides more utility than the limb it’s replacing, not in our lifetime at least.

        • TranscendentalEmpire@lemm.ee
          3·
          3 months ago

          Yeah, that can be an issue with some of the more advanced knee units and upper limb devices if they are being done by a private clinic and being purchased by a private insurance or a workers comp case.

          Luckily Medicare and most Medicaid programs dictate that the clinic that fabricates the limb also maintains the limb until the patient qualifies for a new one.

      • EldritchFeminity
        2·
        3 months ago

        I remember many years ago there was some study being done into deer antler as a way to integrate implants with zero chance of rejection (something about deer antler being bone that penetrates through the skin without causing any problems), and something about using squid cartilage for implanting circuitry for similar reasons, but the coolest advancement that I’ve seen for prosthetics has been 3d printing.

        I saw an open source project for 3d printing prosthetic limbs with a focus on making affordable prosthetics for kids since they grow so quickly they need new fittings quickly as well. And beyond that, I haven’t heard of pretty much anything new in easily decades. The fact that much of our prosthetics technology isn’t that different from what they had in the Civil War is sad.

        • TranscendentalEmpire@lemm.ee
          3·
          3 months ago

          saw an open source project for 3d printing prosthetic limbs with a focus on making affordable prosthetics for kids since they grow so quickly they need new fittings quickly as well.

          Unfortunately 3d printing has mainly been a bit of a gimmick in the field of prosthetics, especially the more diy projects. Most people think that prosthetics is an engineering field with a side of medicine, when in reality it’s more of a medical field with a side of engineering.

          The project you were referring to never really took off because it ended up being detrimental to the patient’s long-term health. With how quickly children adapt to their conditions, if you don’t provide them with a prosthetic that provides more utility than their residual limb, they end up adapting to never wearing any prosthetic. Which in turn can vastly lower their mobility and ability to interact with their environments.

          The fact that much of our prosthetics technology isn’t that different from what they had in the Civil War is sad.

          I wouldn’t say it’s quite that bad. I mean I did carve a wooden socket in school, but haven’t ever seen one in a clinic setting. Prosthetic tech really advanced in the 90s with the introduction of materials like carbon fiber, titanium, new thermoplastics, and advanced mechanical knee units. With the amount of repetitive ground force reaction a human body can produce in motions, our field is pretty limited by the advancement of material science.

      • Alwaysnownevernotme@lemmy.world
        10·
        3 months ago

        People with bionic eye implants are going blind again after the gadget expired inside their bodies. More than 350 people have a discontinued retinal implant in their eyeballs. The invention was once a cutting-edge option for restoring sight, but it has been replaced by newer technologies.

    • hungryphrog
      7·
      3 months ago

      Yeah, if everyone started turning into a cyborg, walking becomimg a subscription-based service would be just a question of time.

    • grue@lemmy.worldEnglish
      6·
      3 months ago

      Any cybernetics would have to be built for me by a hobbyist with a workshop full of Raspberry Pis or something

      And by “or something,” you probably mean 3d printers.

    • lad@programming.devEnglish
      3·
      3 months ago

      In a loose sense, any implant makes you a cyborg, in a more strict sense implants that control something in your body do. Heart rate control by a pacer, insulin level control by an implant, hearing aid, some more complicated implants all make you a cyborg but usually not the cyborg one imagines

  • ZagamTheVile@lemmy.world
    56·
    3 months ago

    I have an artificial lens in one eye (like a contact lens that’s been glued in place) that has built in uv protection. Not cybernetic as such, but I’d say it was adjacent.

  • cassie 🐺English
    53·
    3 months ago

    I like the word “burgerpunk” to describe our dystopia not as neon lights and cool sexy cyborgs but more the aesthetic of a DoorDash ad.

    • Retrograde@lemmy.world
      12·
      3 months ago

      Amazing. What’s more burgerpunk than making AI images about burgerpunk game concept art?

      Coming to buggy early access 2025 on EA games subscription app

      Prompt:

      !physical game cover for latest game called “burgerpunk” inspired by boring, mundane real world problems. Collage of run down strip malls, boring office spaces, high gas prices and sad people stuck in traffic. “Super boring, 10/10 - IGN” !<

    • umbraroze@lemmy.world
      8·
      3 months ago

      Fuck, 2020 would have been so much more bearable if our food had been delivered by The Deliverator. You know, a highly qualified professional.

      …Instead, in this region at least, the app economy bros employed a bunch of befuddled immigrants and also screwed them over contract-wise. So it’s the sad kind of cyberpunk, not the funny kind of cyberpunk

  • MicrowavedTea@infosec.pub
    32·
    3 months ago

    Meanwhile IRL cool cybernetic implants: I’m sorry our company has been bought by Amazon and support for your eyes has been dropped. Please refer to a local surgeon to remove them at your expense.

    • CosmicTurtle0@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
      10·
      3 months ago

      Begins to cry.

      Looks like you activated tears. We’ll automatically upgrade your account to Emotions+, and start sending you Tear refills Pro Edition for $15.99 per month. You can stock up on Tears refills Pro Edition for the entire year at $189.99 and never worry about running out again!

  • rImITywR@lemmy.worldEnglish
    19·
    3 months ago

    We are not even going to get dense cities like Night City. Imagine how much worse the cyberpunk dystopia is going to be with a 2.5 hour commute each way from the suburbs along a mega highway.

  • Who knew?@sh.itjust.works
    18·
    3 months ago

    there are plenty of cybernetic implants that do not work anymore because the company that makes them refuses to update them so that part is totally already a thing

  • spicystraw@lemmy.world
    18·
    3 months ago

    Reality check: Life’s more “flickering office bulb” than “cyberpunk neon dream.” Guess we’re stuck in Blade Runner: Budget Cut Edition.

  • andrew_bidlaw@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    12·
    3 months ago

    Fuck neon, LEDs, all that bright shit spoiling the night. Razor-sharp splashes of light pollution is not an aesthetic, they are an eyestrain and an ad space. My homies enjoy old districts and wilderness where they can relax and see the stars for once.

  • Blackmist@feddit.ukEnglish
    8·
    3 months ago

    In real life we had cybernetic implants shut down by corporations because they weren’t profitable enough.

    I don’t think there’s anything more cyberpunk than that.

    We could definitely use more neon though. Might have to look into WLED and light strips again.