What does the [h+]^3 in the icon mean?

On the Xbox 360 version of Deus Ex: Human Revolution, on a user's gamercard it shows the following icon to indicate that you've played it recently. I don't know if this image shows up on the PS3 or PC versions.

Is there a special meaning to this logo? Is it presented somewhere in the game that I missed? I guess I'm just missing the symbolism behind it if there is any, and it could be completely obvious.

4 Answers

"H+" is a symbol commonly used to represent transhumanism. This symbol, cubed, seems to indicate a higher level of transhumanism. It might also be a play on the fact that this is the third game in the series.

Let's break down [𝑕+]³.

𝑕+ (the 𝑕 is the unicode mathematical italic small h character, \u+1D455(D835+DC55), a specific math glyph) means Human-plus, the next version of man. In the game that means cybernetically augmented people.

The ³ is likely for Human Revolution being the third game in the series.

Taken together [𝑕+]³ may mean "next-human cubed", as in an exponential advance in humanity as opposed to an iterative advance.

Don't listen to the speculations. It's unhealthy.

H+ or h+ is the symbol for transhumanism (the idea of improving the human condition). The "3" simply stands for Deus Ex 3. The reason why H+ is bracketed is because H+^3 is something completely different and they want to (unsuccessfully, it seems) point out the transhuman context.

Fun fact: The whole Daedalus/Icarus dichotomy is based on literature (JBS Hanlane "Daedalus: Or, Science and the Future", in addition to being that famous greek myth).

CyberSkull also makes a lot of sense with the exponent suggestion, since it fits with the theme.

The symbolism (h+) means human-plus(+) and it represents he meaning "transhumanism".

The (h+)3 symbolism means that the (h+) symbolism is being cubed, which means that the (h+)3 symbolism actually means "advanced transhumanism". I actually don't think that the 3 means that this is the 3rd game of the series because the 3 is shown to cube the symbolism (h+), so that doesn't mean that it represent that it is the 3rd game of the series.