Meet the Cyborgs

Frank Swain can hear Wi-Fi.


Diagnosed with early deafness aged 25, Frank decided to turn his
misfortune to his advantage by modifying his hearing aids to
create a new sense. He documented the start of his journey three
years ago on Radio 4 in 'Hack My Hearing'.


Since then, Frank has worked with sound artist Daniel Jones to
detect and sonify Wi-Fi connections around him. He joins a
community around the world who are extending their experience
beyond human limitations.


In 'Meet the Cyborgs' Frank sets out to meet other people who are
hacking their bodies. Neil Harbisson and Moon Rebus run The
Cyborg Foundation in Barcelona, which welcomes like-minded body
hackers from around the world. Their goal is not just to use or
wear technology, but to re-engineer their bodies.


Frank meets the creators of Cyborg Nest, a company promising to
make anyone a cyborg. They have recently launched their first
product - The North Sense - a computer chip anchored to body
piercings in the chest, which vibrates when it faces north.


"I'm a 51 year old bald guy, with no tattoos or piercings" says
co-founder Scott Cohen. "This was never a place I thought I'd end
up in. Everyone's talking about machine learning, but what we're
trying to do is make our brains smarter."


Of course, the marriage of technology and biology is commonplace
in medicine, from pacemakers to IUDs. But now 'citizen hackers'
are modifying their medical equipment to add new functions. Dana
Lewis from Seattle has created her own 'artificial pancreas' to
help manage her Type 1 diabetes and released the code online.


But should limits be placed on self-experimentation? And will
cybernetic implants eventually become as ubiquitous as smart
phones?


Features music composed for The North Sense by Andy Dragazis.


Presenter: Frank Swain. Producer: Michelle Martin.


First broadcast on Tuesday 31 January, 2017.