Human Abilities Augmentation with Intelligent Technologies and Pervasive Computing Emerging Trends

Introduction

The possibility of integrating intelligent and intuitive technology devices with the human body which are capable of responding adaptively to human needs is one of the technology breakthroughs that will change our way of life and alleviate certain human deficiencies. This transformational technology fuses pervasive computing, artificial intelligence and moves human computer interaction further to the level of integration where you have a fusion of artificial sensory capability with bio-sensing to extend certain capabilities, Farooq and Grudin (2019) observed that “Integration extends but doesn’t replace interaction. Not all technologies are in the same stage of maturation. Interaction may take precedence. Robots, virtual assistants, and connected devices and the Internet of Things, for instance, are largely focused on interaction but will eventually graduate to the other end of the interaction-integration continuum”. Mullen (2011) defined human technology integration as the “replacement of human parts and extension of human capabilities with engineered devices and substrates. Its result is hybrid biological-artificial systems”. The goal of this emerging technology is to either extend certain capabilities or augments for lack of those abilities. Mullen (2011) further emphasized that “Human-technology integration proceeds via the development of engineered systems that allow the extension of human senses and capacity to act into the environment. Such systems include (wearable) computing devices and pervasive computing environments, as well as products that substitute or modify aspects of human's existing organic structure, e.g., prosthetics and engineered tissues and organs”. There is growing concern about the ethical implication of further research and breakthroughs in bioprinted technology which will engineer the creation of biosynthetic and artificial human beings.

Human technology integration, which relies largely on artificial intelligence that simulates the intellectual ability of the human mind for the operation of machines, has the capability to seamlessly integrate with the human body for enhanced performance. Thanks to unabated advancement in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning that is merging the gap between technology and humans, making it possible for AI enabled systems to be integrated with the human body to carry out functions once thought of as only achievable by humans with added augmentation. Mueller et al. (2020) in agreement stated that “The mainframe era of one-machine-to-many-users shifted to the one-machine-to-one-user era of the personal computer, followed by the one-user-to-many-machines era of mobiles, to finally the many-machines-to-many-users era of today’s ubiquitous computing era. Looking towards the future, however, it appears that the next era will not be described by such a ratio, but rather that its distinguishing feature will be the blurring of the boundary between human and computer where user and technology together form a closely coupled system within a wider physical, digital, and social context”. This era of ubiquitous computing where intelligent programs become an intricate part of everything will move us from the era of Internet of Things (IoT) to Internet of Everything (IoE) with the implant of intelligent systems into human body which will enable the computers to adjust to human body and extend its capability which can interact with the environment and integrate naturally like human body parts.