Captain Cyborg Is Back! Kevin Warwick Predicts the Future

richi writes "Kevin Warwick: His name raises extremes of opinion. For more than a decade, this highly controversial cybernetics professor has been making waves. His high-profile experiments — and even higher-profile claim that he's the first living cyborg — earned him column inches and unflattering nicknames. In this Forbes interview, 'Captain Cyborg' talks about exploding motorcycles, wireless power, and fish and chips."

Comments

Steve Mann

[NoImNotNineVolt]

Steve Mann (Wearcam, Eyetap, etc.) has been the first living cyborg since at least the 80s.

Re:Publicity the likely motive

[gsslay]

How dare he promote his book! He should sneak it out under plain brown paper cover and not say a word. If he carries on with this kind of publicity nonsense, why, people may find themselves reading it! And then where would we be?!

Warwick has done a few daft stunts, but that's how you get the media to pay attention? Science needs people pushing at the edges of mainstream. They may often be on the wrong track, but I'd rather they were there doing it than not.

Kevin Bloody Warwick

[brain159]

The only thing I need to say about Kevin Bloody Warwick is this:

In his lectures in the Intro To Cybernetics module at the University Of Reading, he played long video clips from The Lawnmower Man. With a straight face.

(Source: BSc in comp sci at Reading, 2000 - 2003)

Re:Kevin Bloody Warwick

[seanellis]

As a more ragged and old alumnus of the Reading University Cybs Deprtment (1984-1987), I have to add my own observation.

Prior to Prof. Warwick being engaged, we were a backwater department of about 25 students per year, stuck in half of a drafty old WWII building at the Earley end of the campus, equipped wth a heating system inherited from early Pleistocene times. (The other half was the psychlogy department.)

Warwick was appointed one year after I left. Within a year after that, the department moved to a nice shiny new building with hot water and transistors so plentiful that they didn't have to be desoldered and reused at the end of a project. I think that he can be credited with at least some of this upswing in fortune, even if he is a regular figure of fun in the news.