Guyver & biotechnology
Sat, 2008-08-23 09:43
I dont know if you have heard of the manga guyver. But it has interesting ideas about biotechnology.
Here you can find more information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bio_Booster_Armor_Guyver
Here you can download the manga:
http://japan-legend.com/wiki/index.php?title=Guyver:_scanlations
I am myself am a big fan of the guyver. I collect almost everything that has to do with guyver. Manga, figures etc. This is a picture of my collection:




So it's similar to Iron Man except the exoskeleton is sort of merged to the body of the wearer?
There are a few inventions already that make this sort of thing a reality or nearly so, like this armored exoskeleton, Japanese Hybrid Assistive Limb (HAL) and the one by Sarcos which is probably most powerful of all.
Of course, while there definitely are positive uses of this, like in the HAL example for making it possible for people who couldn't walk to walk, this technology can be used in the military as well to make armies of super-human soldiers who could wreak havoc on the enemy yet be fairly undamaged themselves, unless they go against a tank I suppose.
Anyway, reading the Guyver plot on wikipedia it seems like an interesting story, kinda about falling slave to technology.. though I'm not a big fan of manga.
I've quite enjoyed the Guyver from a "cheesy, live action movie" perspective. I love his bio-booster armour, but I'm unsure how much the live action holds true to the manga. I own the original live action movie on DVD, and I plan on picking up the second one. I've been a fan for years. Manga and anime wasn't available to me in my small town, and I sure didn't have enough money back in the day to order them.
It's great to see such a nice Guyver collection. I must admit ... I'm jealous!