Bertolt Meyer and Richard Walker, two prominent roboticists and subjects of the upcoming documentary The Incredible Bionic Man, stand in front of a long panel table at New York Comic Con, eager to answer questions. Next to them is their Frankenstein creation. Its artificial blood circulates through its mechanical heart. It's eyes survey the crowd. It walks, talks, and speaks—a bionic man made completely from prosthetic technology.
"Suddenly, technology is at that point where we're able to rebuild a lot of parts of the body," Meyer says. "That technology has only been around for a few years, so that's why I thought this was a good moment in time to explore these technologies and introduce them to a wider audience."
The Bionic Man is different from advanced, DARPA-hardened robots , in fact, it can't really walk that well at all. Instead with $1 million, Meyer, Walker and a team of engineers created the robot as a walking and talking showcase of human prosthetic advancement. Its skull is constructed from modern 3D-printing technology . An FDA-approved device, which gives partial sight to the blind , gives the robot vision. Iron-based nano particles stand in for blood, and its hands are two $60,000 prostheses. This is something Meyer and The Bionic Man have in common.
"I was born without my lower left arm, and I've had terrible artificial implants throughout the years," Meyer says. "What we're seeing is an explosion of innovation and new products in the market that I myself hadn't thought I would witness in my lifetime."
Many of the parts used to create the creature are lesser replacements of their organic counterparts. However, Walker and Meyer mention that if prosthesis innovation continues to progress as it is, it won't belong before these replacements surpass the original. Meyer points to the work of MIT professor Hugh Herr , an amputee who lost both his legs in a mountain climbing accident, as an example. Herr developed a foot-and-ankle system that, according to Meyer, functions beyond the capability of the foot and ankle endowed by nature.
"In the not-so-distant-future bionic body parts will give us abilities that nature didn't plan," Meyer said, "and what kind of future will that be?"
Walker and Meyer's creation is the subject of The Smithsonian Channel's new documentary, The Incredible Bionic Man, set to premiere October 20 at 9pm ET.