The Binding of Fenrir: Children in an Emerging Age of Transhumanist Technology

The meaning of "children's technology" is poised for imminent and radical change, as a variety of technologies are developed whose goal is to expand or augment the biological limitations of human functioning. These transhumanist technologies (including sensory augmentation, robotic bodily extensions, brain-machine interfaces, and genetic alteration) pose urgent questions for the community of designers of children's artifacts. This paper discusses the questions that transhumanist technologies raise for children's design specifically; we then present suggested heuristics for design in this new space, and outline plausible research projects consistent with those heuristics.