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He walks , he talks and he has a tick heart , but he ’s not human — he ’s the Earth ’s first fully bionic man .
Like Frankenstein ’s monster , cobbled together from a hodgepodge of torso parts , the bionic man is an dental amalgam of the most advancedhuman prosthesis — from robotlike limbs to artificial organs to a ancestry - pumping circulative system .
The Bionic Man is the world’s first robot human made entirely of prosthetic parts.
The wight " amount to life " in " The Incredible Bionic Man , " premiere Sunday ( Oct. 20 ) on the Smithsonian Channel at 9 p.m. EDT/8 p.m. CDT . [ Watch Video of the Bionic Man ]
Million - buck human race
Roboticists Rich Walker and Matthew Godden of Shadow Robot Co. in England led the assembly ofthe bionic manfrom prosthetic body parts and artificial organ donate by laboratories around the mankind .
" Our job was to take the delivery of a large collection of torso function — organ , limbs , eyes , head — and over a frantic six weeks , turn those parts into a bionic adult male , " Walker told LiveScience during an consultation . But it ’s not as simple as connecting everything like Tinkertoys . " You put a prosthetic part on a man who is lack that part , " Walker said . " We had no human ; we build a human for the prosthetic parts to occupy . "
The robot , which cost almost $ 1 million to build , was modeled in some strong-arm aspects after Bertolt Meyer , a societal psychologist at the University of Zurich , in Switzerland , who wear out one of the human beings ’s most in advance bionic hands . [ See photo of the Bionic Man ]
The bionic man has the same prosthetic hand as Meyer — thei - LIMB made by Touch Bionics — with a wrist that can full rotate and motors in each finger . The mitt ’s grasp ability are telling , but the bionic man still drops drinks sometimes .
" He ’s not the worldly concern ’s sound barkeeper , " Walker said .
The automaton sports a duo ofrobotic ankles and feetfrom BiOM in Bedford , Mass. , designed and worn by bioengineer Hugh Herr of MIT ’s Media Lab , who lost his own legs after getting trap in a snowstorm as a stripling .
To support his prosthetic legs , the bionic homo wear off a robotic exoskeleton dubbed " Rex , " made by REX Bionics in New Zealand . His awkward , jerky walk makes him more Frankensteinian than ever .
mill - made organs
But it does n’t end there — the bionic man also has a nearly gross set of unreal organs , include an artificial heart , blood , lungs ( and windpipe ) , pancreas , spleen , kidney and functionalcirculatory system .
The artificial heart , made by SynCardia Systems in Tucson , Ariz. , has beenimplanted in more than 100 peopleto replace their pain hearts for six to 12 month while they wait for a graft , Walker said . The circulatory organization , build by aesculapian researcher Alex Seifalian of University College London , consist of mineral vein and arteries made from a polymer used to make synthetic organs of any shape .
While it might not meet the Scarecrow from " The Wizard of Oz , " the bionic humanity ’s " brain " can mime certain function of the human encephalon . He has a retinal prosthesis , made by Second Sight in Sylmar , Calif. , which can repair limited sight in unreasoning people . He also sports a cochlear implant , oral communication recognition and speech product system .
The engineers equipped the bionic man with a advanced chatbot program that can carry on a conversation . The only problem is , it has the persona of " an annoying 13 - twelvemonth - old son from theUkraine , " Walker allege .
The most unnerving aspect of the bionic man , though , is his prosthetic face . It ’s an uncanny replication of Meyer ’s facial expression . In fact , when Meyer first saw it , he hated it , describe it on the show as " awkward . "
The bionic valet de chambre successfully simulates about two - third ofthe human body . But he lacks a few major organs , including a liver , tummy and intestines , which are still too complex to replicate in a lab .
The bionic man impart up some ethical and philosophic questions : Does creating something so anthropomorphic jeopardise notions of what it means to be human ? What amount of body sweetening is acceptable ? And is it wrong that only some mass have admission to these sprightliness - pass technologies ?
The access issue is especially troublesome , Walker said . " The conservation of life and quality of biography has become basically a technical question and an economical question . "
The bionic man made his U.S. unveiling at New York Comic Con Oct. 10 - 13 , and he will be on display at Smithsonian ’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington , D.C. this twilight .
