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What sort of change would you find comfortable in a bodily sense?

I have terrible vision, so whenever robot eyes becomes an option I'm signing up. Especially if there are upgrades to normal vision like telescopic vision, HUDs and different vision options.

If they glow red like the Terminator, that's just icing on the cake.
 
I'm pretty much ok with replacing any physical part of my body that isn't working, but not for the purpose of enhancing anything. A long lasting artificial heart would be awesome. Brain controlled internet connection? That's probably when I go full Luddite and move to the mountains.

I do suffer from an eye condition called keratoconus, so artificial eyes might be nice.
 
Magellan said:
I'm pretty much ok with replacing any physical part of my body that isn't working, but not for the purpose of enhancing anything. A long lasting artificial heart would be awesome. Brain controlled internet connection? That's probably when I go full Luddite and move to the mountains.

I do suffer from an eye condition called keratoconus, so artificial eyes might be nice.
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For eyes I'd imagine the main things would be decalcification enzymes (need to be careful with bones there), artificial lenses and a layer that can be applied over the retina to bond to it and heal it/replace any failing cones.

You could keep most or all of your own eyes that way.

Kidney, spleen and pancreas regeneration, or reliable internal replacements would help a great deal of people.
 
I don't really see the need for any enhancements, but cures for medical conditions, sure. At least up to a point.

If I lost an arm or a leg through accident, I'd be more than comfortable with replacing it with a bionic limb. Similarly, if I lost the use of my limbs through accident, I could deal with an exoskeleton doing the job of my muscles. If I became quadriplegic, I'd also do pretty much anything to be able to continue using a computer.

I've been nearsighted for most of my life (got my first glasses at 11, and by that time I had trouble seeing the chalkboard from the front row of the class) and now at 43, I'm noting the first signs of age-related troubles. No doubt I'll need bifocals in a year or two. All that said, though, I'm in no hurry to sign up for corrective surgery. I'll only do that if I'm at risk of losing my sight completely, say through cataracts...
 
I recall something written by Arthur C. Clark. He desribed implanted plastic lenses as having a disadvantage-they couldn't change focus. However, they do let a person see farther into the ultraviolet part of the spectrum.

Could other types of prosthesis provide below par performance...yet have a few advantages over flesh and blood?
 
I think there is a lot of potential here for Trek stories. Consider the episodes feature genetic augmentation.
 
I think the only things that would be off-limits for me would be my brain and the essential appearance of my face - I want to be me, and I want the people that care about me / that I care about to be able to see me as me.

Eyes - check, I wear glasses, so a nice pair of upgraded eyes would be awesome.
Ears - check, please, before I need the hearing aids that I can see inevitably coming, like with Dad and Grandma.
Legs, knees, and feet - double check. Mine SUCK. I mean they work, but they always hurt.
Heart - triple check. Mine is oversized. Probably from having to work extra hard because of...
Lungs - CHECK. I've been asthmatic since forever, had a collapsed lung when I was 3. Barring an accident or my old Mafia connections catching up to me ;), my lungs are almost certainly what WILL kill me at some point.
"Equipment", as HIjol put it - check. I don't feel any compelling need on this score, but as long as we're rebuilding me and we have the technology.... :D

Oh, and the Internet: hook me up, as long as I can turn off the connection to sleep.
 
While I think artificial materials will be common on bodies in the near term (say 20 years hence) for myself I prefer bio hacks. I wouldn't be averse things like SARMS http://www.evolutionary.org/SARMS which are already being sold on the black market.
 
RAMA said:
In this particular point in time, there are a lot of rapid biotech changes happening. Mechanically we are giving movement with exoskeletans to the handicapped. We are allowing patients the ability to control computers and technology with their brains. Athletes with prostehtiucs are competing at high high levels. Implants are allowing hackers to hack Android smartphones. The first nanotech has been used medically in a human body. In light of this atmosphere of 2015, what are the acceptable changes you are willing to make in a transhumanist sense to your body and brain? Hack off an arm for a better one? Brain implants for focus in school? Fix health issues plaguing you for years? Saving a life? What are your limits?
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Situational.

The number one complaint by paraplegics is that most prosthetics on the market are clumsy, uncomfortable and generally irritating. A replacement limb or even an enhanced one would have to offer significant advantages in order for most people, myself included, to opt for it. People already make this calculus for dental work (e.g. implants vs. partials) and that before one considers out of pocket costs.

A few years ago, my sister lost an argument with a Ford F-150 at about 20mph, riding a skateboard down hill. Her arm is currently held together by a pound and a half of steel pins and rods and makes a very unsettling popping sound every time she writes her name. She would trade it in for a prosthetic in a heartbeat, IF AND ONLY IF the replacement could replicate the fine motor control of her natural arm, if the maintenance was relatively straightforward and hassle free, and if it didn't look like a spare part from a mannequin factory. In other words, it would have to be as good if not better than the original and would have to add a certain amount of feedback for fine motor control.

Beyond that, most people are already comfortable doing all kinds of shit to their bodies. People get tattoos, piercings, plugs, even skin implants for decorative purposes. Add functionality to some of those modifications and they become considerably more practical. The disadvantages (implants that slip from their position, break, cause cancers or get rejected by the immune system) would also have to be mitigated. But for a generation of people that increasingly see their own bodies as fashion accessories that could be customized if only they had the cash for it, augmentation isn't even a game changer, just a new category in the same basic product line.
 
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