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In a recent blog I discussed the idea that we may be only decades away from integrating digital media with the human nervous system, thus equipping us with direct access to communication portals and performance-enhancing apps. Not surprisingly, the concept of merging man with machine generated more than a few questions, including this one: how would this technology be powered?

Well, we won’t be plugging ourselves in for an occasional recharge or wearing solar panels on our heads. The power source will be us. Each of us is, in fact, a power generating system that converts biomass to useable energy. It takes about 24 watts to run the human brain (although this varies with the level of mental activity). Smart phones, on the other hand, consume only about .25 to 3 watts, depending on activity, with some of that being used to power displays.

So, cheer up! Not only should your body be able produce the energy to power your augmented mental abilities: you’ll actually be burning extra calories in the process – adding new meaning to exercising your brain (“Quick, give me a piece of chocolate… I need to think!”).

And we are not alone… at least not for long

The idea of using biomass as an energy source for an autonomous mobile device (I’ve been called worse) has not been lost on the folks at DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency). Enter the Energetically Autonomous Tactical Robot, aka EATR. Working under DARPA funding, Robotic Technology Inc. developed EATR as an, “autonomous robotic platform able to perform long-range, long-endurance missions without the need for manual or conventional refueling.”

Basically, EATR can chow down on virtually any form of vegetable matter it comes across while completing its mission. Possibilities include reconnaissance, border surveillance, clearing waste vegetation from farmland, or removing invasive species from forests. That last one is probably a euphemism for cleaning out pot farms hidden on public lands – feel free to insert your own jokes here.

What goes around, comes around

Predictably, when this became public a few years back, the Internet was buzzing with horror stories about robot soldiers munching their way through enemy lines. Overstimulated imaginations aside, this is a pretty cool idea. Imagine a “gardenbot” that powers itself by eating your weeds… or a kitchen appliance that runs on table scraps.

I’m being facetious, of course, but not by much. Defense and aerospace technologies eventually find their way into commercial products – think Teflon, GPS, and microwave ovens. So it’s always interesting to keep an eye on what DARPA, NASA and other government agencies are working on.

In early September, DARPA showed off the Legged Squad Support System (LS3) from Boston Dynamics. Playfully called the “robomule”, this device has four articulated legs that can move quickly across rugged terrain while carrying supplies like a huge, four-legged metal spider. Its cousin, the Cheetah robot can “run” at nearly 30 miles per hour. In addition to EATR, the folks at Robotic Technology Inc. are researching ways to transfer vehicle technologies developed for the DoD to the DoT to improve vehicle and highway safety.

Putting it all together… and then marketing it

The “singularity” that transhumanists speak of is the integration of man and media to produce neurally enhanced individuals. While still in its infancy, robotics may hold the promise of expanding our physical capabilities to match our increased mental capacity. Development will need to progress beyond creating mechanical mules and cats – humans did not achieve flight until they gave up trying to emulate birds and explored technological alternatives. Biotechnology, materials science, nanotechnology and a variety of other disciplines will be called into play before we can truly deliver on the “Six Million Dollar Man” (marked up significantly for inflation, of course).

Still, the promise of physical enhancements that make us stronger and help us to run faster, jump higher, make our senses more acute, and grant us greater endurance is interesting to contemplate. This is especially true if these newly found physical skills are to be coupled with the enhanced mental capacity necessary to use them to their fullest potential.

Charles Revson famously said that Revlon was not in the business of selling cosmetics: what it sold was hope. Every good advertising executive knows that you don’t sell features; you sell the benefits those features provide. Imagine the marketing and advertising campaigns that will be created not to sell hope, but actual, quantifiable improvements to a person’s mental and physical capabilities.

There was an old Twilight Zone episode that pictured a time when plastic surgery enabled everyone to have the face and body of their choice. Everyone, of course, chose the most attractive appearance that was possible, and wound up looking absolutely beautiful… and exactly alike. I leave it up to you to decide if a world that homogenizes humanity would be a dream or a nightmare.