Augmented Human, a new way of perceiving and acting in the world
Virtual reality, augmented reality, robotics and especially exoskeletons, wearable devices, Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), brain-computer interfaces, drones... are technologies for which we foresee a convergence by the end of the next decade, resulting in a new reality that will change the way we perceive and act in the world...
As these technologies emerge, our commitment is to identify how to put them together in order to meet human needs and improve their users quality of life. The users of these so-called augmentation devices are refered as Augmented Humans.
Augmentations may well include:
- Improvement or amplification of existing senses: infra-red or lightless vision, remote vision, perception of ultrasounds,...
- Addition of new senses: echolocation, internal compass,... to boost our perception of the world.
- Increase of physical skills: our strength, motor skills, sense of balance,...
- Increase of cognitive skills: ability to process and store information from the various senses through artificial intelligences, sensory substitutions such as tactile communication and new ways of interacting with machines via brain-computer interfaces are only a couple of examples...
These augmentation devices will provide their users with help at various levels: physical and cognitive load reduction, risks prevention, assistance in carrying out daily tasks, improvement of human and machine communication, new ways in sport and entertainment areas...
That's the whole new field, derived from the convergence of all those technologies, and partly originated in virtual & augmented reality, that CLARTE is now investigating.
As for its two previous strategic activity areas (VR and AR), CLARTE keeps the same operating model through awareness-raising actions, support, innovation and technological transfer. There's already a profusion of envisioned usages in the workplace such as cognitive assistance for carrying out complex and critical tasks.