Implants and Virtual Reality - Fun and scary

The Zimmer Knee

So I heard about this new surgery in one of my marketing classes. It is essentially a knee replacement program for women. Apparently most knee replacements use the same shaped knee on everyone, both men and women. But what this company does is it changes the size and shape of the artificial knee to match the differences presented in a womens knee. Women have smaller knees so regular knee replacement programs sometimes causes discomfort because the knee doesn't fit right. I was able to watch a video of the actual knee replacement surgery in my marketing class and it was quite extraordinary. The way that they just cut up the bone and screw in a metal knee cap is just amazing. These implants are turning these people into bionic individuals. Their entire knee is now metal and non biological.

Claytronics

So looking around YouTube I was able to find this new technology that allows people to interact with virtual objects in real time. Apparently this is called claytronics. The video goes to several different companies and technologies around the world to see what they can do with 3d modeling. My favorite is the i magic book at about 5:00 min into the video. Kids look through 3d glasses and whenever they turn the page the story is acted out in 3d. Carnegie Mellon has dubbed this technology claytronics and they hope to one day have the ability to create the scene at the end of the video (8:22). It looks pretty amazing.

Its interesting that Hayles talks about Carnegie Mellon University in her article and how these people are trying to find ways to leave the body behind. These i magic books are allowing children to see stories act out in front of them as the story is being read. While this may be a good thing I still think the seduction of a story is the fact that you can use your imagination to create what is happening. It is fun to interact but where can computers enhance our imagination? Maybe the future will tell us.