Edinburgh, United Kingdom, April 13, 2009--Surgically constructed with an artificial scaffolding, performance artist Stelarc's "third ear" was on display at the Edinburgh International Science Festival.

The 62-year-old Australian plans to install a microphone in the object, allowing Web users worldwide to "hear" via his arm.

"Maybe we are getting a glimpse of the future here, where technologies get embedded [in the body]," computer scientist and festival organizer Michael Smyth told the Scotsman newspaper. "We all carry mobile phones everywhere but suddenly when we break the barrier of the skin, it becomes an issue."