‘Cyborg’ Neil Harbisson will be talking about the technology implanted into his head that allows him to sense colour
Spoiler Alert! Blade Runner is not set in Birmingham.
If this news has knocked you askew, forcing you to drop your rich tea into your brew, then don’t fret – cyborgs are coming to the West Midlands on 12 October as part of the city’s Fierce Festival.
The finale event at Millennium Point is titled ‘Cyborg Days’, where many of the UK’s leading cyborg experts will discuss the cultural and scientific impact of cyborg cultures, with a guest appearance from Neil Harbisson from the Cyborg Foundation, who claims to be the world’s first officially recognised cyborg.
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CYBORG FOUNDATION | Rafel Duran Torrent from Focus Forward Films on Vimeo.
Neil will present an audio-visual performance via the Eyeborg, a mechanical device surgically implanted into his brain that allows him to ‘hear’ colours vibrating in his skull.
A sufferer of achromatopsia, a condition which makes him see the world in greyscale, Neil uses the technology in order to have a bodily response to the colours of the world in everyday life.
Laura McDermott, artistic director of Fierce Festival, commented: “The Cyborg Foundation are asking urgent questions about what it means to be human as technology evolves and advances around us.”
Harrison Ford will not be appearing.
