Week 4: MedTech + Art

Kevin Warwick and world's first "Cyborg"
(from Google images)

In this week’s lectures, I have learned about some incredible medical technologies and how artists understand the philosophy and representations of these technologies. It surprised me with the fact that scientists and artists have already succeeded in developing technologies which I thought did not exist beyond my imagination, such as the “Third Hand” developed by Stelarc, as well as how professor Kevin Warwick controlled robot hand and even communicated with his wife through neural signals. Also, I am impressed by how artists understand what advanced medical technologies imply. For instance, Arlon understands medical technology in the way that it can turn oneself into an art piece and bring art alive. Moreover, she brings up the question of what beauty truly is when one is able to control the appearance through plastic surgery.

VR pain meditation developed by Diane Gromala

VR game "Dreadhalls"

The part which impresses me the most is how Diane Gromala views inner sense. Gromala suffers from chronic pain, and instead of just bearing the pain and taking painkillers constantly, she altered her focus to how advanced technologies and media can achieve the effect of painkilling too. She figured out that inner sense is actually far more sensitive than the combination of five senses, and that targeting on inner sense could be the answer to relieving pain. So, she tried using the technology of virtual reality as a form of pain management. When I saw the clip of how her VR games worked, I could immediately feel the power of them. It is because I experienced a VR game before, and to be specific, it was a horror game called “Dreadhalls”. At that time, I was completely into the game and ignored the outside world because I was so nervous and needed to be prepared for pop-outs. Similarly, I believe that Gromala’s idea of relieving pain through VR would be effective as well. In addition, with the effects of sensing the patient’s breath, stress level and pain level, one’s inner sense is very likely to shift its concentration to the game world and immerse in the scene.

To conclude, advance in medical technology has brought about many new possibilities and also given inspirations to artists. Further breakthroughs in the future are foreseeable with the increasing integration of medical technology and art.

Sources:

TEDxAmericanRiviera - Diane Gromala - Curative Powers of Wet, Raw Beauty. TEDx Talks. Youtube, 2011. Video.

Unknown. “Diane Gromala”. Wikipedia.

Unknown. “Virtual Reality”. Wikipedia.

Andreas Lustig. “Third Hand”, Stelarc. Accessed Apr 25, 2017. Web.

Kevin Warwick. “Cyborg”, KEVIN WARWICK. Accessed Apr 25, 2017. Web.