IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 42

argument that the intertextual nature requires us to
see the discourses as a whole.

Military Industrial Complex Advertising
The first discourse is advertising and is largely generated by the work of the military industrial complex. Some
advertising is for rehabilitation and disability assistance.
We archived advertising concept videos made by
research, development, and supplier companies such as
Lockheed Martin, Raytheon Sarcos, Ekso Bionics, and
Cyberdyne. Research hubs at University of Bristol, MIT,
University of California, University of Utah, and Harvard
University informed these projects. Videos depict publically promoted, pre-release exoskeleton technology
geared to soldiers, factory workers, and disabled persons with mobility challenges. Some products target soldiers who have lost the ability to walk. Most videos are
quite short, 1-3 minutes, circulating on YouTube to
advertise innovation; in this way, they are also meant for
the general public.
Using Theme 1 transhuman rhetoric, authority is conveyed through visual markers assuring us that militarybacked science and tech institutions are behind these
innovations. The setting is often a high tech technology/
medical lab showing people wearing exoskeletons and
performing physical tests. The videos' voiceovers often
convey authority through university PhD researchers
who explain the prototype and how it is an advancement. Exciting music plays. Overt interpersonal markers
also establish clout. Close-ups show subjects wearing
the exoskeleton to create "intimate" social distance [17],
proving that the exoskeleton exists as if one was in the
room with it. Videos use "low angle[s] of power"[17] to
dwarf the viewer in light of augmented humans wearing
exoskeletons. These persuasive tactics might also be
viewed as acts of trust-building. Gaining citizen's trust
has been identified as a key aspect in the adoption of
emerging technologies [10].
However, public messages also concentrate on
theme 2 rhetoric, constituting a shift in human agency,
signifying the idea that exoskeletons will be used to
bring human soldiers to extremely superior physical or
cognitive states by overcoming limitations. At the University of Utah, DARPA-funded researchers say they aim
to create an exoskeleton that would "protect soldiers in
combat by giving them increased strength and endurance" [25]. In another example, Lockheed Martin is
building the HULC to enhance the heavy-lifting capabilities of U.S. soldiers [28]. Most of the advertising videos
also depict a soldier-like male person wearing an exoskeleton demonstrating some kind of physical feat
(theme 2) outside, such as lifting extremely heavy
objects or moving with agility in manner that would not
be possible without the machinery.

In several videos, however, companies deploy theme
3 rhetoric using exciting claims and cinematic superheroism in combination with identity-building tactics. Raytheon Sarcos advertises its exoskeleton suit in
collaboration with the Iron Man franchise [29]. It uses
actor Clark Gregg (aka Agent Phil Coulson of the Marvel® Movie franchise) for product endorsement, signifying a strong connection to fictional exoskeletons. He
wears the exoskeleton and his comments serve as exciting testimonials when we see a demonstrator easily lifting one hundred and fifty pounds on his back during
push-ups [29]. Ironically, Gregg's "celebrity power" [30]
compels audiences to believe the tech is real and not
fictional. At the same time, Gregg is very much an everyday citizen trying on a massive mechanical suit. As viewers, we see a regular person (like ourselves) wearing the
technology of a supersoldier, commenting on the level
of comfort it poses and the euphoria it suggests with
Iron Man lingering in the mix.
We are asked to identify personally with a transhuman future and to celebrate it. However, the videos do
not address the broader socio-ethical implications. In
the case of the Sarcos suit, the video mentions "combat", but it does not really address the fact that these
machines are for war and equipping people for fighting
in highly dangerous situations.

Popular Science Journalism
Popular science journalism describes, shapes, circulates
and promotes information for non-expert consumers,
essentially selling the news as exciting, noteworthy, or
revelatory. As such, it is also advertising. Manipulation of
news, caused by circulatory website algorithms, as well
as the work of content producers and participants has
been noted by others [31] [32] [33] [34]. We conducted
two full text searches of Popular Science and Popular
Mechanics using Academic OneFile, which indexes those
publications. For both, we searched on the words "exoskeleton", "wearable robotics", "soft robotics", and "exosuit" across a twenty-year timespan. Popular Mechanics
returned 19 instances ranging from 1992 to July 1, 2015
and Popular Science returned 43 instances ranging from
1993 to July 1, 2015. The point of this study was not to
glean statistical proof, but rather to explore transhumanism as it serves to popularize technology, in this case
military technology. Most of the articles fell under multiple categories, as we coded them according to the four
themes relating to transhumanist rhetoric.
One relevant example is a 2008 cover story for Popular Science called "Man of Steel" [35]:
But Darpa's ambitious wish list read like something
from a comic: a machine that would let the average soldier lug hundreds of pounds and hike for days without
fatigue, handle weapons that normally require two

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