Androids and Cyborgs.

[Jackalb]

I'll have to stop it there though or we could go on for a very long time ;o
(was trying to find a picture of Donald Sutherland from the movie where he gets cybernated onboard an boat)

VIRUS!
Why didn't I think of that!

(I struggled to get Robocop :\)

 

[Jackalb]

Ah! Excellent!
Cybernetic Organism Donald Sutherland wants to eat your brains because computers took his!

Then I shall bow to your victory for he is awesome, along with that film in general.

Edit: I googled the hell out of it, it's so hard to get an image of cyborg Sutherland

 

[oktalist]

AFAIK android is a non-organic robot with humanoid shape and cyborg is a portmanteau of cybernetic and organic.

 

[spectrenihlus]

=android

=cyborg

 

[Treblaine]

I was thinking about this recently.

We all have an idea of what an android is and what a cyborg is, but are there any exact classifications?

Or are they just synonymy for robots?

I always thought an android is a robot that looks like an organic organism and that a cyborg is an organic organism altered with robotic parts.

What do you guys think?

I really hate to nitpick but almost all of these definitions aren't quite on.

An 'android' is a robot made to appear human, specifically male. The female equivalent is called a 'gynoid' but android can also be used as gender non-specific.

A 'cyborg' is an organism comprised of organic and artificial components. More specifically the artificial components are vital to survival; the cyborg is a single organism and the removal of either the biological or mechanical components causes organism failure.

A note at this point; despite several statements in the fiction the T-800/850/888 models of Cyberdyne Systems Terminators aren't cyborgs. They are robots fitted with a life support system for an organic covering, but the organic covering in no way assists the functioning of the mechanical being, they are separate organisms.

EDIT: I was ninja'd a few times between reading and posting, those responses are spot-on. I felt like writing a bit more though.

What about cylons from the newer Battlestar Galactica series?

They are "organic" but artificial, don't appear to use any distinctly robotic parts, the replicants in Blade Runner where in the original Sci-Fi novel they were called Androids by the author. But was he taking artistic licence.

So are "organic robots" Cyborgs, Androids, or both or neither? I mean robot in the classical sense of artificially created being, whether by metal, plastic or cells.

 

[sky14kemea]

Wow, talk about coincidence, I was asking my friends the exact same question earlier! O:

But yeah, they cleared it up, and this thread double confirms it ^^ Thank goodness.

 

[Treblaine]

What about cylons from the newer Battlestar Galactica series?

They are "organic" but artificial, don't appear to use any distinctly robotic parts, the replicants in Blade Runner where in the original Sci-Fi novel they were called Androids by the author. But was he taking artistic licence.

So are "organic robots" Cyborgs, Androids, or both or neither? I mean robot in the classical sense of artificially created being, whether by metal, plastic or cells.

I'd personally call them an artificially grown organism, they're not mechanical in that sense and would seem to be closer to genetically engineered animals (albeit on a far grander scale). They're not robots so much as specially bred and tailored animals since they are living beings, living beings used as machinery but still fundamentally living.

The definition would change a bit if they were living human cells engineered to create a form of machine or whether they were machines built artificially to mimic the functioning of organic cells. The first makes them animals, the second makes them a robot.

"I'd personally call them an artificially grown organism"

Bit of a mouthful isn't it? And it's less a name, more a description or definition. A name should at least be a shortened or compound name.

I suppose it does walk a fine line, but it is my understanding both Replicants and Cylons are not merely copies or "clones" of humans. They are designed from the ground up, I don't think they even have DNA like humans and may manage cell replication and replacement by some other means. They are stronger, tougher and have more acute senses than humans (though like vampires, often a fatal weakness), they are just made to appear human, even under the microscope.

You know sci-fi is good when it challenges you with questions like this, that defies definitions rather than just being the same old cliche.

 

[Shock and Awe]

What about a cybernetic organism?

 

[rabidmidget]

An android is a robot that is designed to have the appearance of a human, although in some definitions, it may not be mechanical.

A Cyborg is something/someone that is made out of a mixture of organic and mechanical parts.

However, both of these definitions are up for interpretation.

 

[Cody211282]

this is a cyborg

 

[Wedlock49]

android = synthetic human

Cyborg = human with machinery cellotaped on... like the Borg from startrek

 

[the_dancy_vagrant]

What about cylons from the newer Battlestar Galactica series?

They are "organic" but artificial, don't appear to use any distinctly robotic parts, the replicants in Blade Runner where in the original Sci-Fi novel they were called Androids by the author. But was he taking artistic licence.

So are "organic robots" Cyborgs, Androids, or both or neither? I mean robot in the classical sense of artificially created being, whether by metal, plastic or cells.

I'd personally call them an artificially grown organism, they're not mechanical in that sense and would seem to be closer to genetically engineered animals (albeit on a far grander scale). They're not robots so much as specially bred and tailored animals since they are living beings, living beings used as machinery but still fundamentally living.

The definition would change a bit if they were living human cells engineered to create a form of machine or whether they were machines built artificially to mimic the functioning of organic cells. The first makes them animals, the second makes them a robot.

"I'd personally call them an artificially grown organism"

Bit of a mouthful isn't it? And it's less a name, more a description or definition. A name should at least be a shortened or compound name.

I suppose it does walk a fine line, but it is my understanding both Replicants and Cylons are not merely copies or "clones" of humans. They are designed from the ground up, I don't think they even have DNA like humans and may manage cell replication and replacement by some other means. They are stronger, tougher and have more acute senses than humans (though like vampires, often a fatal weakness), they are just made to appear human, even under the microscope.

You know sci-fi is good when it challenges you with questions like this, that defies definitions rather than just being the same old cliche.

I think that at that point, you could call them 'cybernetic organisms' rather than the shortened 'cyborg'. The literal meaning of cybernetic is pretty variable depending on what field you're talking about, but in a broad sense it means a complex, multi-tiered system that is planned or designed from the lowest level of complexity to the highest. So in a usage sense, cyborg would apply to an organism that has been augmented from its original state and a cybernetic organism would technically have no natural state as its origin is completely synthetic.

 

[Mozza444]

Your all wrong..

This is an Android

 

[nick n stuff]

andriod=robot
cyborg=robot/organic...like willy

 

[II2]

Just a few cool misc images (cyborgs)

You've probably seen that one

You probably haven't seen this one (neither have I)

Steve was creepy enough without this kind of treatment.

T101 skull, unskinned. Good DA artist's 3d.

Inevitably

Real life: Tomorrow Today, in Tokyo

Beautiful - I'd spend some time visiting that uncanny valley *hyuh hyuk* (couldn't resist).