FIRST ENTIRELY BIONIC MAN BY SHADOW ROBOT CO.

World premiere: a robot made fully of prosthetic organs

“Don’t judge a book by its cover”. We recommend you keep this in mind when meeting the first entirely Bionic Man. Why such an advice? Let’s say he will probably remind you of the lovable yet frightening Frankenstein monster.

Rich Walker and Matthew Godden, from Shadow Robot Co., have devoted their life-long expertise to an uncommon creation: the world’s first fully bionic man. Laboratories around the globe provided the roboticists with the best artificial organs (heart, blood, lungs, pancreas, spleen, kidney and functional circulatory system) used for implants, while the prosthetic body elements were modeled after the best devices currently in use. Six weeks work were needed to assemble those and see the magic happen! Every man has his price, some are more expensive than others: the production cost was almost $1 million.

Despite improvements to be made (the prosthetic face surely won’t help win a place in a beauty contest!, major organs were too complex to produce: liver, stomach and intestines, the brain has limited functions etc.), 75 percent of the human body has been simulated and the robot can even conduct a light conversation!.

Rich Walker and Matthew Godden‘s performance opens the door to a fair amount of ethical questions but, for the moment, let’s focus on the outstanding step made forward in the relevant field.