Toronto’s first CyborgCamp hits our city this Saturday, promising a low-cost, day-long opportunity to klatch with folks who know about the simpler things in life such as quantified self, robots and what else? Cyborgs. Feeling a little too, um, intellectually intimidated to go? Here are some tips on how get your cyborg on at CyborgCamp, even if you never made it past high school science and math.
What is CyborgCamp?
According to the CyborgCamp Oregon site, CyborgCamp is a “conversation about the future of technology, and how humans fit in.” Which sounds, ahem, simple enough. It started back in 2008, when some Cyborg enthusiasts in Oregon, such as Cyborg anthropologist Amber Case, had a conversation over Twitter, and the idea for CyborgCamp emerged. The event was largely organized over Twitter, and planned out using a wiki site. The event was live streamed, and folks tuned in from 50 countries. Since then, the camp has also been organized in San Paulo, Brazil, and now it’s here, in Toronto. Speakers include the inventor of the first wiki, Ward Cunningham, and a real cyborg. All CyborgCamps are "unconferences."
Tip: if you go, you should probably be techie enough to know what a wiki is, but don’t worry if you’re not into Twitter; Toronto organizer Eric Boyd says he and his fellow organizers are not huge Tweeters, either.
Yikes! A real cyborg?
Relax. We’re not talking the Borg here. The real cyborg at the first camp was just a person with an insulin pump. Because cyborgs are part humans and part machine, think about how many of us have machines (like pacemakers, or insulin pumps) inside us. According to the camp, they’re cyborgs. You can find a much more eloquent discussion of that here.
Tip: don’t freak out if someone introduces himself or herself as a cyborg.
What the heck is an unconference?
Anyone who registers can give a talk, and those listening to the talk are encouraged to contribute as much as possible. While some speakers have been organized, other talks are likely to emerge.
Tip: this ain’t your typical sit-in-the-back-of-the-room-hungover-from-the-night-before-and-sleep type of conference.
Tell me again what exactly people will be talking about?
Boyd says he’s looking forward to the DIY Transhuman talk, which is about wearable electronics that dispose new human senses. Boyd created a compass anklet called the North Paw that vibrates when the person wearing it faces north. Since it’s DIY, Boyd sells an assembly kit for the device. He’s also hoping for a quantifed self session, which, in a nutshell, is about using our everyday devices like our smartphone for self improvement, like tracking how much exercise you get to improve your health.
Tip: use your smart phone to quantify how much smarter you’re getting by attending this unconference.
Yes, but will there be robots?
Yes. There will be at least one: a telepresence robot, who can be controlled over the Internet. When someone is telecommuting, a telepresence robot can become a person’s remote “presence” in the room, showing livestreaming video about what’s going on.
Tip: it’s ok to go to CyborgCamp just to see the robots, they’re cool. But don’t let the real CyborgCamp-goers know that’s the only reason why you’re there. It may be uncouth.
Note: tickets are are no longer available, but you can still show up at the door on Saturday and get in at a lower cost, though you’ll miss out on the provided lunch.
CyborgCamp Toronto, Tranzac, 292 Brunswick Ave., Sept. 24.
