This diagnosis means that he will eventually lose all movement in his body with the exception of his eyes; thanks to a series of pioneering and high risk operations he was able to extend his life expectancy, but this came at the cost of his voice.
Dr. Scott-Morgan’s response to his condition has been to use all of his extensive knowledge and contacts to become fully robotic, he benefits from what he describes as being an ‘unparalleled confidential access’ to Government organisations, banks and corporations.
Dr. Scott-Morgan has created Peter 2.0 which is a digital avatar that mimics his voice and movements to allow him to as he suggests “thrive” as a robot, thanks to his collaboration with other leading experts.
In a video message Dr. Scott-Morgan had his avatar say “On 10th October 2019 Peter 1.0 will say his very last words, but by then I will be fully operational and I will come online. For decades to come, I will keep Peter’s personality alive and for all the time I will continue to evolve, dying as a human and living as a cyborg.”
The human cyborg itself is continuing to evolve and has even more updates coming, as Dr. Scott-Morgans writes on his website: “Almost everything about me is going to be irreversibly changed – body and brain.” “It goes without saying that all my physical interaction with the world will become robotic. And naturally, my existing five senses are going to be enhanced. But far more importantly, part of my brain, and all of my external persona, will soon be electronic – totally synthetic.”
Once he becomes totally synthetic he will become a mixture of hardware and wetware, one that is part digital and analogue, he says that this will be more than just a change, it will be a metamorphosis.
Since diagnosis he has undergone a series of extremely risky pioneering operations with the goal to extend his life such as a recent laryngectomy that potentially provides him decades of more life but removes his ability to speak.
This pioneering work may allow Dr. Scott-Morgan to thrive rather than just survive as the avatar can respond intelligently to the world with his own speech, personalities, and movements; additionally he benefits from a highly advanced wheelchair that enables him to stand, lie flat, and move quickly; he is also exploring being able to use his eyes to control computers, which includes the ability to raise and move his bed.
Such innovative technology may be able to transform the prospects for people with motor neurone disease; Dr. Scott-Morgan remains focused on further evolving this technology to be even more helpful, and ensuring that everyone can enjoy the same cutting edge healthcare that is helping him.
The Right To Thrive campaign has been developed which is aimed at combating the postcode lottery, this means that access to quality healthcare often depends on the location where someone lives; the campaign’s goal is to ensure that advances in healthcare become universally available.
