Abstract :
The process of cyborgization harbors great promise, but also significant threats. The scope for inequitable access to potentially beneficial prostheses is enormous, and so is the risk of a backlash against orthoses that are perceived to be "unnatural" or potentially harmful. Political, social, and economic institutions must grapple with the fruits of the labors of information and communications technologies, and they must be in formed by the professional bodies that represent researchers and engineers. At present, those professional bodies are unacceptably inactive.
