Facebook admits the actual figure for how many teenagers it targeted with it's illicit market research program was almost 4 times what it previously stated.

Give it 50 years. Once we have managed to fully map the architecture of the brain and biotech has improved to where we can create technologies like neural meshes, people will start getting implants that are not to correct disabilities. We already have technologies like osseointegrated prosthetic limbs that have hardwired neural connections for sensory feedback and motor control. This is where a prosthetic limb is actually connected to the bone via a surgical procedure, offers real sensation (feeling, touch), and is controlled via nerve impulses. The technology still has a lot of room for improvement but since the R&D is now in the field of computer science progress has been very fast.

http://integrum.se/our-solutions/mind-controlled-prostheses/

http://stm.sciencemag.org/content/6/257/257re6

Even though the general public might have reservations about implanting technology in their bodies... I suspect any taboos and reservations will fade after American military personnel start coming home with such augmentations as a result of their service. I say this because the US military is the biggest player in this field of research and they definitely plan on a cyberpunk future for American war-fighters.

Much of the advancement in neural interface technology and what can be described as cybernetic implants has been the result of research by the US military. All those people with bionic limbs literally have the US military to thank (and oddly the Bush admin) for no longer having to use a primitive metal hook prosthesis. Those robotic arms and legs are all technology forked from the US Dept of Defenses Mobius Bionics LUKE project.

The DARPA.mil research didn't stop with the LUKE and has moved onto working on creating High-Resolution Implantable Neural Interface technology. From other projects it looks like the end goal will be for interfacing American soldiers with the information systems on Navy warships, unmanned aerial vehicles, manned fighter aircraft, and ofc to restore function to injured war-fighters.

/r/worldnews Thread Parent Link - theregister.co.uk