Summary and Outlook

Abstract

Evolution has always been the main driving force of change for both the human body and brain. Presently, in the Information era, our cognitive and perceptual capacities cannot merely rely on natural evolution to keep up with the immense advancements in modern technologies. But systems we use daily (e.g. computers, smartphones, etc.) remain mostly unaware about our current state, causing what has been described as the “cognitive gap”—the inability of systems to adapt to the current cognitive and circadian state of the user (Niforatos et al. 2017). In this edited volume, authors contribute ideas and investigations into bridging this gap by bringing the machine (system) closer to the human (user). From improving our working memory, our ability to retain and learn new information to extending our perceptual and executive capabilities with wearable or implantable hardware, modern technologies bear an unprecedented potential to seize the role of natural evolution for humans. One should tread lightly in this “Brave New World” of Human Augmentation, however. In this final chapter, we summarize the key contributions of each chapter in this book, assume a philosophical standpoint over augmentation technologies and share our vision on their future outlook.