How far are we from GITS?

[Kanu]

Ghost in the Shell is set - what? - 20 years from now? And like most anime/films that project into the future its doubtful we'll get there in time.

However, i'm beginning to wonder how far we really are from prosthetic bodies and stuff... think of muscle wires, and those weird cam-eye thingies and the onslaught of internet culture... Apparently 40% of warcraft players are addicts, is a cyber existance really that far away?

What does everyone else think?

[tripletres]

with all technology and everything considered... no. we arnt all that far away. in fact, i think we are closer than what many of us think. there will be a reform soon, as long as people change their ways. there has to. look at global warming. look at booming gas prices. im sure there's more... i just dont know. but if people change to solve that, i beleive that will get us closer to what you're describing.

[hanahime16]

Well, I dont know if I could go so far as to say that we could be as advanced in our prosthetics as Ghost in the Shell, but I can say that I think that its entirely possible that we could make it to that point, maybe even in our lifetimes.
I dont think, or rather I suppose I dont want to think, that prosthetics will be choice over actual human flesh like it is in GITS, but who knows? I have never had that choice so I really dont even know what I would personally choose.
In any case I think I could have more of an opinion if I knew more about how the prosthetic bodies were created in GITS, and what their structure was like. (which would be really interesting to know btw) That way, I could better compare what we know how to do now to what they know.
Who knows??
...but its interesting to think about.

[Shigami]

We already have cam-eyes*But their only fuzzy,black and white pic's,only used by blind people*.So i would say propably in 20-30 years.Yes we will be alive till that happens.

But even if they are created,it's a fact that it'll cost a fortune.The question is When they will be released and used by almost everyone * daily basis *.

(If you ask me they have already created those things,i mean Nasa has created a plain that can go up to 6,000 km/h) They are just not officially released.

[Mugen]

Yeah, we're not that far. We are already developing nano technology further. Soon they will begin research in body enhancements. Not long now.

[leerock89]

Hhmm I see a business opportunity in this....

[sparkrose]

prosthetic arms
http://www.technologyreview.com/Biotech/18134/?a=f
robotic eyes
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18136947/
robotic legs
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12497049/
prosthetic heart
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_heart

as you can see if someone already has enough money to waste
they can undergo an almost complete change the only things truely needed
would be a brain a bowel and places to excrete ummm for lack of better words poop and piss (a brain needs food if you didnt understand that)

AI
http://developers.slashdot.org/artic...12222&from=rss
second life AI (yes its real and an AI)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VaUNX00Uqc0

soon we might not even be the only intelligent species (that we know about) on the planet
it kind of scares me like irobot

[leerock89]

Oh yea. Theres definitely money in this. I mean think about the impact they would have in the work force....like we would have machines doing the more harder, disgusting, deadlier job...OMG THE MONEY!!!

[Klard]

We aren't really that far from getting to the point in the future you described, but at the same time, do we really know how technology is going to develop unless we're right there with the people making those kinds of decisions?

We don't have a f****** clue about what the world is going to be like 20 years from now. For all we know we could all be dead as a doornail! But I sure hope that we're not. Yeah, we could get there, but a lot of money would have to be spent on scientific research, I'm talking like quadrillions of dollars here guys, not chump change at all. I just don't think we're ready for that kind of a world yet;after all, books written decades ago said that we would have flying cars and would have made it to the center of the universe by now. We sure haven't gotten there yet, but there's still time, time is on our side in this case.

[analogZero]

I think that conceivably in the next 20 years, yes we could be in the position of this type of technology, but as shigami mentioned it's not so much when it's doable, but when it's affordable. Getting your body replaced would be rediculous expensive, and truthfully the only people I could see being fitted with this type of procedure would be soldiers, such as in GITS. The one thing I kinda of doubt happening is ghost hacking. The concept of matching the workings of the human mind to that of a digital device is easily far more complex than creating robobodies. But I guess that's a good thing, cuz I don't want to be hacked and have batou called me a stupid d*ckhead.