Wearable computers and rights of Cyborgs …
This is great … and I have to admit that Steve Mann is pushing the limits of wearable computers! I have recently been following the leading edge research of Steve in the area of rights of people with wearable computer augmentation. Mann has been looking at the various social implications of wearable computers from the perspective of the “cyborg” who begins to integrate them into their life and depend on them. He has explored the potential impacts of removing visual augmentation from someone how has physically adapted to it, along with the issues with potential damage to these devices by electromagnetic forces, radiation, or physical search.

His issues are very legitimate as wearable computers can be seen as extensions of humans much like many medical devices – wheelchairs, etc. In this particular case, Mann even had a heart monitor that was attached in way that its removal left him bleeding.

It now appears that Steve is suing an airline for damages and personal impact suffered when he was detained and searched. The line between biological and technological life is beginning to blur …

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_1897000/1897264.stm