Dixie George- Specialist Practice
The word ‘cyborg’ is shortened for ‘cybernetic organism’. Cybernetic is the entire field of control and communications theory, whether in the machine or animal while organism is an organized body, consisting of mutually connecting and dependent parts constituted to share a common life.
Imagining Cyborgs
A cyborg (short for "cybernetic organism") is a being with both organic and biomechatronic parts. The term was coined in 1960 by Manfred Clynes and Nathan S. Kline
Clynes, M and Kline, N. (1960) Cyborgs and Space, in Astronautics. September issue.
Origins of Cyborgs
The first Cyborg in the media was a fictional superhero called the Nyctlope, predating the second world war, this superhero is the brain child of French writer Jean de La Hire. The Nyctalope possessed enhanced night vision, special color-shifting irises, and an artificial heart. "Nyctalopics" is a term that describes the process of cybernetic adaptation.
Cyborgs in Comics
Terminator Franchise
Films
The Terminator (1984)
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003)
Terminator Salvation (2009)
Terminator Genisys (2015)
Television
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (2008–2009)
Guardians of the Galaxy
Nebula
Korath
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Marvel, DC and TV shows
The Terminator (1984) Directed by James Cameron USA: Orion Pictures.
Arguably the most famous and well known Cyborg/ Robot film in Hollywood, from the iconic look of the Terminator, created through the makeup and characterisation with Arnold Schwarzenegger in the leading role.
The Terminator-1984
Cameron's decision to incorporate CGI to achieve TERMINATOR 2's liquid metal villain was a huge risk. Cameron’s CGI character from his previous film, THE ABYSS was on screen for only 75 seconds, and it took nine months of work to complete. The team from Industrial Light and Magic, headed by Dennis Muren, were not at all convinced that they could achieve what Cameron and the script demanded. ILM categorized the effects shots as: easy, moderate, difficult and miraculous. In total ILM created fifty effects shots which totaled 3.5 minutes of the film. The rest of the 300 effects in the film were handled by practical effects and astounding puppetry created enterely in-camera by Stan Winston Studio.
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Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
Terminator Genisys (2015)
Terminator Salvation (2009)
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (2008–2009)
Robocop
Comparisons between the designs in 1987 and 2014
RoboCop (1987) Directed by Paul Verhoeven USA: Orion Pictures.
RoboCop (2014) Directed by José Padilha USA: Columbia Pictures.
Elysium 2013
Commentary on more recent cyborgs
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Real Life Cyborgs
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Kevin Warwick can justifiably claim to be the world’s first cyborg. In the 1990s, Reading University’s visiting professor of cybernetics started implanting RFID chips into himself. In 2002, he underwent pioneering surgery to have an array of electrodes attached to the nerve fibres in his arm.
Kevin Warick
