The Birth of Superhumans!

　Masahiko Inami's The Birth of Superhumans!

The author who moved from KMD to the University of Tokyo explains the research being done to create superhumans by extending human motor function and senses using human extension engineering, machinery and information systems.

  While the conventional approach to technology, is to "compensate" for the deficits of the body,  as represented by artificial prosthetic limbs, now there is a trend toward using technology to "expand" the human body. The unification of human and machine. Mr. Inami elaborates the design and technology for such an endeavor.

　Virtual reality and telexistence are technologies that feel like reality. A robot or humanoid that can become an alter ego. This book looks at the post physicality.

　Mr. Inami and I are co-representatives of the "Superman Sports Society". I am not in the habit of publicly proclaiming my admiration for my friends, but this is probably the best book of the year.

  While weaving the genealogy of research into warps, and domestic and foreign SF and pop culture into wefts, we will continuously explain difficult and innovative engineering starting with MIT and both domestic and overseas research.

   Mr. Inami says, SF depicts the “What” (what we want to make), and research depicts the “How” (how to achieve it). Therefore, what make this book most appealing is its careful reading of science fiction and pop-culture in Japan and the United States. This is the kind of writing I admire. A new writer has appeared on the scene.

  2001: A Space Odyssey, The Fly, Invisible, Jurassic Park, Being John Malkovich, Matrix, Real Steel, Total Recall, Surrogates. It’s impossible to repress films like these.

  Doraemon, Perman, Ghost In The Shell, Evangelion, Cyborg 009, Cobra, Jumborg Ace, Tetsujin 28, Parasyte, Golgo 13, Anpanman. It is hard for engineering researchers to follow the examples set by works like these in great detail.

  There is a lot of stimulating information to encounter in this book.

For example, thinking is regulated by the body. He points out that it is impossible to say tongue twisters at 10 times the speed in one's head.

-- That is definitely true.

  Pink (magenta) does not exist in the physical world, the brain senses this color by seeing the colors red and purple, which occupy opposite sides of the color spectrum, at the the same time. When it comes to the human senses, our sense of hearing is  faster than our sense of sight, but the difference between the speed of light and the speed of sound is corrected in the brain at the same time that they are being perceived.

-- So that’s how it works.

   President Johnson was very particular about the temperature in his personal airplane, so they made a fake temperature control knob for him to use and he stopped complaining. Apparently he was satisfied as long as he thought he was in control, even if the temperature didn’t change.

-- I want to go see the actual thing at the Museum of Flight in Seattle.

  The important point to emphasize in the development of humanoid robots, is that in order to ensure that robots function correctly in the environments in which they will be used, you have to find out how people want to use their robots.

- I see, it’s inevitable that you have to consider the demand when it comes to developing humanoid robots.

  At this point in the book, we’re introduced to research on how to manipulate the human body by sending an electric current to a wearable device, as well as research on body sharing or how to attach a camera to the head so that people who are far away can experience the same things as that person. Sharing experiences by controlling the body via remote control. Mr Inami asks the question what exactly is is a body. Interesting.

  There are many fantasies concerning the possibilities of IoT such as the automatic unlocking of the entrance doors, automatic piano performances, and automatic cooking when you get hungry, and things like the automatic operation of a transparent robot. Mr. Inami is famous for making a human transparent with optical camouflage, but will we really be able to accomplish such things by expanding the body and sensations with IoT? Interesting.

  The world is an uproar over IoT and AI, and what will come after the smart revolution. However, isn't it more exciting to think that in the near future the very existence of humans will be questioned due to virtual reality and humanoids that will make it possible to separate the body from the senses? I will wait for the next work from Mr. Inami. No, I will urge him to write more.