ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER CYBORG GETS

ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER CYBORG GETS HASSLED AT THE AIRPORT: Strange story in the New York Times, by way of GeekPress (which I found by way of Virginia Postrel’s blog), which says:

Don’t mess with airport security — real-life cyborg learns that “resistance is futile”. Due to increased airport security measures, Canadian engineering professor Steve Mann was forced to unplug all his cybernetic implants that help him augment his memory and vision. According to the article, Mann (who has worn these implants continously for 20 years!), found the experience extremely disorienting: “Without a fully functional system, he said, he found it difficult to navigate normally. He said he fell at least twice in the airport, once passing out after hitting his head on what he described as a pile of fire extinguishers in his way. He boarded the plane in a wheelchair.”

It will be interesting to see how the airport security debacle plays out in the next five to ten years, as more and more people will probably have some of the cybernetics that Mann is testing. I’d also be interested to see what happens to Mann’s lawsuit, and if he’s able to rebuild his equipment.