Human Augmentation

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What Does Human Augmentation Mean?

Human augmentation is generally used to refer to technologies that enhance human productivity or capability, or that somehow add to the human body. Modern advancements in many areas of IT have led to a greater variety of implants and other technologies that could be classed as human augmentation.

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Human augmentation may also be called human 2.0.

Techopedia Explains Human Augmentation

Within the greater category of human augmentation technologies, some different classifications can be made. For example, there are devices and implants that contribute to more advanced sensory devices, such as cochlear implants. Then there are orthotics or limb devices that can enhance motion or muscle capability. Other types of human augmentation may work with specific sorts of IT resources, such as big data assets. Some tech companies are rumored to be working on these kinds of data-connecting devices that would link the human body up to outside sources of information, either visual or text-based, or both.

While many of the new options for human augmentation seem to be empowering and offering improvements to human health and quality of life, part of the scientific community has expressed concern about human augmentation tools built on powerful tech concepts like biotech and nanotechnology, which must be closely observed for safety and long-term potential ramifications.

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Margaret Rouse
Technology expert
Margaret Rouse
Technology expert

Margaret is an award-winning writer and educator known for her ability to explain complex technical topics to a non-technical business audience. Over the past twenty years, her IT definitions have been published by Que in an encyclopedia of technology terms and cited in articles in the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine, and Discovery Magazine. She joined Techopedia in 2011. Margaret’s idea of ​​a fun day is to help IT and business professionals to learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages.