Neil Harbisson

Neil Harbisson

Neil Harbisson (27 July 1982)^[5] is a Catalan raised, Northern Ireland born artist, musician and performer best known for his self-extended ability to hear colours and to perceive colours outside the ability of human vision.^[6] In 2004 he became the first person in the world to wear an eyeborg.^[7] The inclusion of the eyeborg on his passport photo has been claimed by some to be official recognition of Harbisson as a cyborg.^[8] Colour and the use of technology as an extension of the performer, and not as part of the performance, are the central themes in Harbisson's work. In 2010, he founded the Cyborg Foundation, an international organisation to help humans become cyborgs.^[9]

Cyborg status

In 2004, Harbisson was not allowed to renew his UK passport because his passport photo was rejected. The passport office would not allow Harbisson to appear with electronic equipment on his head. Harbisson wrote back to them insisting that the eyeborg should be considered part of his body as he had become a cyborg. Letters from his doctor, friends and his college were sent to the passport office to give him support. After weeks of correspondence Harbisson's prosthetic device was included.^[28] Harbisson states that he became a cyborg when the union between his organism and cybernetics created new neuronal tissue in his brain that allowed him to perceive color through a new sense: "It's not the union between the eyeborg and my head what converts me into a cyborg but the union between the software and my brain".^[29]

[edit]Cyborg Foundation

In 2010, Neil Harbisson and Moon Ribas created the Cyborg Foundation, an international organization to help humans become cyborgs.^[30] The foundation was created as a response to the growing amount of letters and emails received from people around the world interested in becoming a cyborg.^[31] The foundation's main aims are to extend human senses and abilities by creating and applying cybernetic extensions to the body, to promote the use of cybernetics in cultural events and to defend cyborg rights.^[32] In 2010, the foundation, based in Mataró (Barcelona), was the overall winner of the Cre@tic Awards, organized by Tecnocampus Mataró.^[33]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_Harbisson