It's a dream that few of us have dared to chase, but one man has successfully grown a human ear on his arm.

The project began back in 2006, but it took another decade for Perth university professor and artist Stelarc to find a medical team able to perform the procedure, reports ABC Australia.

They managed to insert an ear-shaped scaffold underneath his skin, and over the next six months tissue and blood vessels developed around it. Right now it looks pretty convincing, but there's more work to be done.

Listening. Always listening

Stelarc plans to have a miniature microphone inserted, which will wirelessly connect to the internet and allow people around the world to remotely listen. It's like a twisted version of Periscope.

People will also be able to track the location of the ear through GPS, says Stelarc. And there won't be an off switch.

"Increasingly now, people are becoming internet portals of experience," he said. "Imagine if I could heard with the ears of someone in New York, imagine if I at the same time could see with the eyes of someone in London."

Arists, eh?

Image credit: ABC