Review of Cleland Prosthetic Bodies and Virtual Cyborgs Essay

Review of Cleland Prosthetic Bodies and Virtual Cyborgs - Essay Example According to Cleland, the cyborg-like emerging of bodies and technology has become commonplace for a majority of the human activities, such as industrial manufacturing and exploration and that we have, at this point in history, largely embraced human-machine coupling thus enhancing their presence among the populations. Cleland goes further to suggest that a percentage of the world’s population is now composed of cyborgs. These â€Å"cyborgs† come in various types: for instance, people who have GPS chips implanted in their bodies, people with artificial arms and skins as well as those with implanted eye lenses. All of these are examples of practical cyborgs in ordinary human life. Cleland then further expands upon the notion of virtual cyborgs. Virtual cyborgs, or rather, avatars, have become commonplace in the online environment as they provide a critical connection between the virtual world and reality. She states that â€Å"avatars are perceived digital representatio n that behaves or are executed in real time by a human being†.The article succeeds in expounding upon the virtual re-embodiment that becomes possible through avatars in the sense that people can expand their sensory perceptions into virtual environments through the help of avatars. Video games are a perfect example of how this virtual re-embodiment takes place since the player is connected to the virtual environment through the joystick or mouse that can simulate the movement of the avatar in the manner in which the player wants the avatar to behave.