Augmentation, it has been a topic up for discussion as the advancements on prosthesis has begun to make headway in the recent years. It has even gotten to the extent that we are seeing people who are blind getting a second chance to see, people who’ve lost legs being able to walk, dance, and move as if they had never lost their limbs. It has even gotten to the extent I ran an editorial on how close we are to bridging the gap between man and machine.

With their series that has broken boundaries in questioning what it means to be human, Square Enix has announced that in correspondence with CNN, they will be partnering with the brand studio Courageous in order to host a first-of-its-kind conference on human augmentation. Human by Design will be held at the Paley Center for Media in New York City on August 3rd, 2016. This conference will explore the gaps between humanity, technology, with the goal of bringing together the top minds for debate, question, and the ability to challenge what it means to be human as we advance technologically.

If this conference has already peaked your interest, you can visit the official website for more information in regards to the human by design conference: www.humanxdesign.com/.

As part of the launch plan for Deus Ex: Mankind Divided – a sequel to the smash hit Deus Ex: Human Revolution – both titles developed by  Eidos-Montréal, and published by Square Enix – have teamed up with Human by Design in order to promote the game. In Deus Ex: Mankind Divided humanity has become filled with hatred, prejudice, and fear of those who have been augmented compared to those who are still “Natural”. The title will explore the near-future possibilities that could be come truly possible. All of these will be explored in the conference where they will discuss how technology has begun to rapidly shape the human condition as well as ethics of self-regulation that Deus Ex’s Universe has already begun to see as possible and true.

“Since the launch of Courageous, we have been committed to pioneering the evolution of branded content to help brands tell more powerful stories,” said Otto Bell, vice president and group creative director of Courageous. “Human by Design greatly embodies this approach, as we’ve assembled a group of thought-leaders across the fields of science, technology, ethics, and cyborg activism who, for the first time, will come together to discuss the cutting-edge technologies and innovations that are shaping human augmentation.”

“Human by Design goes beyond bringing to life the key themes of Deus Ex: Mankind Divided. This conference is a special opportunity for a video game to take pause from the limitless world we play in, and to drive the conversation around what is really happening in the space of human augmentation,” said Jon Grant, senior product marketing manager at Square Enix. “Our hope is that the gaming world tunes into the conference and is inspired to get involved as well.”

Official Featured panel sessions at Human by Design (The following information from here is as given to us by Square Enix):

Is Augmentation a Human Right?: How can augmentation be accessible to everyone on the planet?
E. Christian Brugger, Cardinal Stafford Professor of Christian Ethics at John Vianney Major Seminary in Colorado and author of hundreds of articles on topics in bioethics, natural law theory and the interdisciplinary field of psychology and Christian anthropology.
Dr. Natasha Vita-More, Designer, researcher, and scientist who explores the intervention of biological limited lifespans, selective enhancement, and related socio-political issues.
Adam Arabian, Ph.D PE, Technical Director of multiple nonprofits and Professor of Engineering at Seattle Pacific University, focused on supporting refugees and underserved communities globally.
Dr. Steve Mann, Chief Scientist at California-based Metavision, Inventor of HDR (High Dynamic Range) imaging, Founder of MIT Media Lab Wearable Computing project and widely regarded as “The Father of Wearable Computing.”

Selective vs. Therapeutic Augmentation: Who should have the final say on augmentation procedures — doctors or individuals?
Neil Harbisson, British-born cyborg artist and activist best known for having an antenna implanted in his skull to perceive visible and invisible colors such as infrareds and ultraviolets via sound waves.
Dr. Michael Chorost, Author of Rebuilt: How Becoming Part Computer Made Me More Human, the groundbreaking “cyborg memoir” about getting a cochlear implant.
Samantha Payne, Co-Founder of Open Bionics, an award-winning startup developing low-cost bionic hands for amputees or those born without a hand.
Dr. Homayoon Kazerooni, Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, where he also serves as Director of the Berkeley Robotics and Human Engineering Laboratory.

The Future of the Far Far Next: What will medical advances enable 10 years from now?
Will Rosellini, IP Expert and serial entrepreneur with three companies in progress that focus on repairing the nervous system using active electrical devices.
Lucy McRae, Science-Fiction Artist, Director, Body Architect, and TED Fellow probing the frontiers of the body, health and human adaptability.
Zoltan Istvan, Futurist, Author of best-selling philosophical novel The Transhumanist Wager, and 2016 U.S. presidential candidate of the Transhumanist Party.
Tan Le, Founder and CEO of EMOTIV, a bioinformatics company advancing the understanding of the human brain through electroencephalography (EEG).

The conference will culminate with the presentation of The Code of Ethics on Human Augmentation. Drafted by the Human by Design Board, which is comprised of conference speakers, The Code is meant to engage a deeper conversation around the issues of human augmentation, while reflecting the specific views of the authors, in an effort to help shape the future of the industry.

To bring global access to the live event and provocative conversation, Courageous will capture original video of the conference that will be distributed in ad space across CNN’s digital and social footprint, including CNN’s Snapchat Discover channel and Turner’s social distribution platform, Launchpad. The conference will also be streamed live on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/deusex.

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided is set to launch August 23rd, 2016 for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.

About the Writer:

Dustin is our native console gamer, PlayStation and Nintendo reviewer who has an appetite for anything that crosses the boarders from across the big pond. His interest in JRPG’s, Anime, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable. His elitist attitude gives him direction, want, and a need for the hardest difficulties in games, which is fun to watch, and hilarity at its finest. You can find him over on Twitter, Google+, and or you can find him on PSN with RaivynLyken.