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Music to your ears? Try a headphones implant like Rich Lee Music to your ears? Try a headphones implant like Rich Lee
(3 months later)
Don't offer Rich Lee a pair of headphones to listen to music: he's already got a pair, even though you can't see them. They're implanted in his ears – a procedure carried out by a "body modification" expert.Don't offer Rich Lee a pair of headphones to listen to music: he's already got a pair, even though you can't see them. They're implanted in his ears – a procedure carried out by a "body modification" expert.
Now, by connecting his music player to a loose wire coil around his neck (which he can tuck under his shirt), Lee can listen to music without blocking out the outside world. The tiny magnets implanted invisibly in his outer ears pick up the signal and generate sound.Now, by connecting his music player to a loose wire coil around his neck (which he can tuck under his shirt), Lee can listen to music without blocking out the outside world. The tiny magnets implanted invisibly in his outer ears pick up the signal and generate sound.
But that's only the beginning. Lee, 34, who works as a salesman, intends to hook it up to an ultrasonic rangefinder – effectively giving himself bat-like echolocation. And he would like to have X-ray vision, super-strength, and anything else that gene therapy or technology might be able to offer.But that's only the beginning. Lee, 34, who works as a salesman, intends to hook it up to an ultrasonic rangefinder – effectively giving himself bat-like echolocation. And he would like to have X-ray vision, super-strength, and anything else that gene therapy or technology might be able to offer.
While thousands of people around the world having had their bodies "augmented" through standard medical procedures – such as artificial hips, cochlear implants, pacemakers, heart valves, and of course breast implants – the idea that you might want to have headphone implants might not seem odd.While thousands of people around the world having had their bodies "augmented" through standard medical procedures – such as artificial hips, cochlear implants, pacemakers, heart valves, and of course breast implants – the idea that you might want to have headphone implants might not seem odd.
Lee describes his aim as "self-augmentation and enhancement": "If I see a way to eliminate the need for sleep I will never sleep again," he told the Guardian. "If I can have x-ray vision through some cybernetic technology I will have it, even if it requires an ocular prosthetic that leaves me looking like a monster. If I discover a gene therapy that will give me super strength, I will augment my very DNA to do so. If this gives me an advantage over someone else in the workforce, so be it. I do not abide by the restraints imposed by ethics committees who attempt to regulate human enhancement. Their arguments will be obsolete 10 years from now." He says that he refuses to be "caged by my DNA".Lee describes his aim as "self-augmentation and enhancement": "If I see a way to eliminate the need for sleep I will never sleep again," he told the Guardian. "If I can have x-ray vision through some cybernetic technology I will have it, even if it requires an ocular prosthetic that leaves me looking like a monster. If I discover a gene therapy that will give me super strength, I will augment my very DNA to do so. If this gives me an advantage over someone else in the workforce, so be it. I do not abide by the restraints imposed by ethics committees who attempt to regulate human enhancement. Their arguments will be obsolete 10 years from now." He says that he refuses to be "caged by my DNA".
Lee, of St George in Utah, is one of the growing subculture of "grinders" – a group of a few hundred people around interested in adding technology to their bodies to improve them.Lee, of St George in Utah, is one of the growing subculture of "grinders" – a group of a few hundred people around interested in adding technology to their bodies to improve them.
Yet while procedures such as breast implants have become routine, he and other "grinders" often have difficulty locating skilled people who will carry out the procedures they want. "My procedure was done by body modification master, Steve Haworth. Doctors don't touch this sort of thing. Plastic surgeons might be convinced to, but it would be at an outrageous price I'm sure," said Lee.Yet while procedures such as breast implants have become routine, he and other "grinders" often have difficulty locating skilled people who will carry out the procedures they want. "My procedure was done by body modification master, Steve Haworth. Doctors don't touch this sort of thing. Plastic surgeons might be convinced to, but it would be at an outrageous price I'm sure," said Lee.
That has meant going to others – including Haworth, regarded by other grinders as "the godfather of body modification", who has been experimenting with additions to the body since 1998.That has meant going to others – including Haworth, regarded by other grinders as "the godfather of body modification", who has been experimenting with additions to the body since 1998.
Yet Lee isn't simply motivated by the desire to enhance himself. He lost a significant amount of the vision in his right eye for unexplained reasons; and his doctor has warned him that the left eye might follow suit, leaving him legally blind. "A cornea transplant will be my only option and a bit out of my budget at the moment," he remarked. "So I figure learning to navigate with echolocation is a good thing to develop now. Not that I've resigned myself to blindness or anything."Yet Lee isn't simply motivated by the desire to enhance himself. He lost a significant amount of the vision in his right eye for unexplained reasons; and his doctor has warned him that the left eye might follow suit, leaving him legally blind. "A cornea transplant will be my only option and a bit out of my budget at the moment," he remarked. "So I figure learning to navigate with echolocation is a good thing to develop now. Not that I've resigned myself to blindness or anything."
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