Is getting a human body to look Na'vi possible?
 

I was thinking today, about options for becoming similar looking to a Na'vi and what is possible today and what might be in the future.

Skin colour and markings
Theoretically possible through tattoos, but in the future could hopefully be done better, perhaps actually changing the produced colour.

Bioluminescence
At least one person already has UV tattoos of bioluminescent dots in NA'vi style, although actual bioluminescence that works in the dark rather than UV hasn't been done yet, as far as I know. Again, should be possible in the future though, even if glow in the dark rather than actually bioluminescent.

Tail
This is a hard one, not likely to be possible for a while, as it has to have all the muscles and nerve connections necessary for it to move :(

Ears
Another hard one, I think, as they need to be able to move again, and are also higher on the head than a human's

Eyes
Not sure how hard this would be overall, although I'm guessing that actually making them larger wouldn't be easy.

Nose/face
Should be possible now, I guess, although may not be easy to do.

Queue
One that just looks like one is easy enough, if takes a while to grow, but an actual functional one is unfortunately far off... Maybe one day... :'(

I'd be interested to hear other people's observations on these and any more :)

I'm also wondering who here would go for looking like a Na'vi if they could. I know I would :D

It would be interesting, I suppose.
It'd be near impossible, in my limited opinion, to alter yourself to look like a full size Na'vi. Humans being ~5/6ft and Na'vi being ~9/10ft.
Also the question of making yourself a functioning Na'vi. Their eyesight and hearing is better and I don't know if their strength is proportionate to their size.
But to make yourself look like a Na'vi should be easy enough

It would be impossible for a while to do this. Getting extra nerve connections to the brain is one thing, getting the brain to use them is different. Current brain control devices require full concentration to use. Plus, you would have to consciously think of every movement you wanted your tail or ears to make.

To modify a body would be extremely difficult, and impossible for some things.

The nose would be the easiet thing to do, that's just a simple rhinoplasty procedure.

The blue, striped skin and bioluminescent dots would probably be moderately difficult. All the cells in your body (except for a few exceptions like the brain) cycle every seven years. If one can modify the DNA to produce blue melanin, and in different shades to produce stripes, and modify freckel genes to be bioluminescent, theoretically it's possible. Though there is the risk of the body rejecting the cells.

The tail is also possible, but it would require the tailbone to pretty much be rebuilt to handle it, along with the required muscles. One would probably have to go through physical therapy to learn how to move with it, too.

I doubt one can modify ears to be that Na'vi-like. One would likely have to have a new set grown, and grafted in place. New muscles could be attached to make them move, but the muscle structure of the entire head would likely require heavy modification to handle them.

Eyes would need to be transplanted, there's no real way to just make eyes get bigger AFAIK. Though people with already large eyes could likely get by with yellow/green iris tattoos.

I'm not sure about the queue. That is going to be, by far, the hardest part, because your f-ing with something as complex as the nervous system. My guess is that it could be created by modifying nerve endings or something.

TBH I'm not sure I would do this. I personally would rather hold out for cloned Na'vi bodies and mind transfers.

Yeah... But maybe with some training, who knows :D

It should be fairly doable to look like a Na'vi -- transforming yourself into a (short) Na'vi with functional body parts is another matter entirely, and I don't think that's possible with current technology. If it's the former, then I don't think I'd do it -- it would just attract unwanted attention from Avatar haters (and indifferent people wondering what was wrong with me) -- but if the latter were actually feasible, I'd probably go for it. I still say the best option is the transfer-into-an-Avatar route, though :D

I don't see the difference between just looking a convincing Na'vi (which is more what I meant in the OP) and actually recreating the physical characteristics of one, at least not in terms of appeal - Avatar haters will still hate it whether you have a human body that just looks Na'vi, or managed to actually more extensively become Na'vi.

Well if the Avatar-haters say anything, you can smack them with your Na'vi strength (assuming this is one of the characteristics you've managed to obtain). Or you can use your tail to knock things off their coffee tables.

That would be very cool, although I don't think I would do it... I would love to see someone else do it though!

I'm designing my UV dots in Na'vi right now haha I've got a lot of designs (I've seen Humbles tattoo, but I obviously don't want to copy him I want it to be completely mine) hopefully by the end of the year I'll have it. It would be freakin amazing at raves and house parties

What I would give for one... I imagine myself with a tail and ears at least a couple times a day

Once again what I would give for one, although I was thinking about designing Na'vi ear DJ headphones :D

Making eyes larger would be I think near impossible unless you mess with the genes (which I am against) but I am going to get yellow/golden contact lenses soon

To connect with something as close as the Na'vi do with nearly everything is so... incredible. To connect with your life mate as close as a queue... the ultimate intimacy... just those words give me the goosebumps

I'm all in favor of looking like a convincing Na'vi -- looking like one and having no useful associated physical characteristics (e.g., turning blue and having a differently-shaped nose but not having a functioning tail/ears/queue/what-have-you) would suck, but otherwise I'm sold. :)

I also want to get a bioluminescent dot pattern, but I'm waiting for one that doesn't need UV and will work in the actual dark. Not really any UV where I go :P

If there was a way of having most if not all of the necessary procedures done with minimal risk, i'd definitely consider doing it. Now, where's that £200,000 I left lying around...

;)

I have posted before about the applications of the Enzyme Luciferase. It is the Enzyme that causes fireflys to emit bioluminescence and has been created inside some plants to cause them to glow. Gene Therapy could be used to create Luciferase inside a person, but it wouldnt necessarily make their skin glow. It could make their Pancreas glow or their brain. A lot of trial and error would have to take place for that to be perfected, but I would love to see that done.
Then again the half-life on Luciferase isnt very long, so the enzyme would have to be genetically altered as well as to make the energy transference as efficient as possible.

~Skxawng

I would be interested if it really looked real, which it doesn't. We've got skin die, UV tattoos, nose jobs, oh and we can cut off some of our digits.

Good.
 

Yap, you are so right about it...

But I had the courage to underline some of your... stuff :D I will speak on the Italic pragraphs :

1. The bioluminiscence (points...) comes from the organism and from the atmosphere's influence too, similar to the bioluminiscent environment. Even if we have bioluminiscent landscapes and fauna on Earth, it still would take hundreds of years to multiply them in their environment or for the atmosphere to change and make an impact on humanity or animals or the rest of the biosphere. The thing is that I would like some unique bioluminiscent points on me, they are so cool. :D

2. The tail could be something too, but as you say it need a lot of improvement to the nervous system and new muscles. Our body construction wouldn't permit a such intervention and we would also need a more advanced brain to accept other moving body parts.

3. I was speaking with a friend of mine today about the Na'Vi ears and he said he'd like that too. Anyway, I watched separately the ears of my dog and the ears of a friend's cat also noticing a little difference, not speaking about the shape, but it's construction and functions are various from age to age and from species to species. The cat sharps its ears when angry or concentrated, dogs do that only when they're looking at something or trying to understand something. Na'Vi have both of these functions (watch Neytiri's ears when she's singing and watch them when she's making the viper-wolves go away). Our mind could accept and could handle (probably) moving ears like the feline's.

4. The nose is feline type... it could be possible, and it would be awesome too.

5. Yea, this "Tsahaylu" choice would be vvvvery difficult imo. The Na'Vis have that connected to their brain, and as you can notice (when Quaritch pulls Jake's avatar queue it hurts so as it hurts us when we get hit in the back of the head...) it is connected to the nerves and other vital functions. I really like when the Na'Vi meditate at the Tree of Souls, or when they unite for Jake to come into the avatar body forever... the power of their thoughts, their feelings is so deep and so unexplainable by science in a way we can't imagine :)

Good point, ma tsmukan. ;)

I'd say the easiest way to introduce it might be something like a bioluminescent bacteria or glow in the dark ink being tattooed into the skin. Bioluminescent bacteria could be produced by genetic engineering without too much problem, or for glow in the dark stuff, it all already exists, we just need a non-toxic one...

Well, nobody is really sure, as it's never been done. I'd guess that if it was connected to the nervous system, people could control it, but it would probably require some learning. Movements becoming instinctual would happen with time as you get more used to it.

It's certainly the least feasible out of them all :'(
Which is annoying as it's one of the ones I really want... Tsahaylu must be like nothing else imaginable, it must be so amazing to be able to fully connect with another person.

OMG I WANT IT I WANT IT I WANT IT!!!!11!11:D:D:D:D
Robot Tail - Silifulin - Demo Video | Geekosystem

I'm sure they could make an organic, more Na'vi-like version soon. ;)

I don't know about everything else, but the blue skin doesn't seem like a complex thing when you think about it. Naturally, if biologists and geneticists can alter the melanin from brown to blue in a person's DNA structure of growth, it can easily be done. However, the reason why the Na'vi are blue is because of their environment, of which I have no clue how it works. Max indicated they used this blue-tinted radiation, or light, or whatever it was, to illuminate the development pods so their skin would turn the natural blue it was supposed to be.

But I'm going to ask the question: why are the Na'vi so tall? Is it because of the lower gravity?

Hardly. More air pressure would, by definition equal more oxygen (ideally, 50% more), and causes taller growth. If the earth had some sort of crystalline cover, like a material canopy engulfing the entire planet, more air would be forced into the lungs, causing more oxygen to be distributed. This extra air would be ingested to produce more hemoglobin in the blood, making a human able to run for hundreds of miles without getting tired.

This same air pressure is being applied with hyperberic oxygen chambers, which most American football teams own for the sole purpose of healing the players. 50% more oxygen to the human body causes wounds to heal faster. It's also used for many other medical uses; one example I remember was a boy being treated for cerebral palsy with a hyberberic oxygen hood over his head.

Not only that, 50% more oxygen causes plants to grow phenominally bigger, producing many times its normal rate, with bigger fruit ("fruit" meaning whatever the plant produces). The animals would also be phenominally increased in size, and the lifespan of any animal would dramatically increase... as well as the lifespan of humans. For instance, being 200 years old in such an environment with a canopy over the atmosphere would be like being 25 now. Around 900 years would be the age where you look noticeably quite old.

I'd talk more about this, but I'd be getting into the "religious" realm, which is better suited for the.... science section. If you knew what else I had to say, you'd agree.

All in all, interesting topic! :)

Oh. My. Eywa.

Wantidy want want. :D

Genetically, there doesn't have to be such a reason - the average size on Pandora is much higher, so anything particularly small would simply be vulnerable and get killed fairly easily. Also, being ~4x as strong as a human and having carbon fibre bones allows them to support significantly more weight than a human.

DO WANT... If they do, I'm getting one implanted :D

Yeah, but there's gotta be a reason why everything's bigger on Pandora than it is here. Why didn't the Na'vi grow at our size? Why not 4 feet? Why not 15 feet? Why around 9 feet? If there's 50% more air pressure, that explains it, and at that particular height as well. At least, to me it does. :) Theories abound at why humans grew that high a few thousand years ago. We've discovered giant human skeletons before, one was about 9 1/2 feet. One skull had a jawline at 6 inches. No hoaxes; even 30 years after some of the remains being discovered, there haven't been any objections, let alone every other strange phenomenal human find. One skeleton was 12 feet, as I recall. I've got pictures. :) I'm just saying, if the air pressure were increased, so would the rate of growth.

That's why it came as no surprise to me when I read in the Avatar: A Confidential Report... book that similar conditions prevented humans from breathing, just because there were more amounts of other gases that the lungs couldn't process, thus taking in probably about 3% oxygen in one breath. That's why you're unconscious in 20 seconds (excess carbon dioxide) and dead in about 4 minutes (the brain can only function for about 4-5 minutes without sufficient oxygen to the average human). Sure, there are special cases of people who are trained to hold their breath for much longer, but they're holding their breath while slowly releasing, not breathing toxic gases at a constant rate; there's no app for that. ;)

The oxygen level is almost the same as Earth's, CO2 is toxic in itself at high concentrations, and Pandora has around 20%, more than enough to kill a person.

Anyway, I still want a tail :D