Lifeboat Foundation

Denis Aabo Sørensen lost his left hand nine years ago, while handling fireworks. Since then, he has used prosthetic hands, but never one like this. Last year, a team of European engineers created for him a prosthetic hand that connects directly to the remaining nerves in his upper arm. That means the hand is able to send sensations of touch back through his arm and into his brain. Plus, when Sørensen wanted to grab something, he could move the hand by simply thinking about it.

Often only a few years separate the tinfoil hats from the millionaires to be. I was writing the piece on the Youbionic arm and thinking of how we will use 3D printing to augment human beings. Clearly augmenting the human body with mechatronics would be a good idea. The flesh is weak but stepper motors are strong! Oh how we will eeck, ooow, brrrr whine in our old stepper augmented age. Machines could very well fill the gaps once our bodies start failing us. But, will old people homes really be filled with Borg grandmas?

Continue reading “Joris Column: Printcrime, augmenting humans, nanoconvergence and Segway polo” »

This is the next generation of robotic prosthetics. Here’s how they work.

Watch the full TED Talk here: http://bit.ly/2LQErPg

Click on photo to start video.

These prosthetics are so realistic that it’s hard to tell what is real or fake.

Impressive.

Controlling prosthetic limbs through the power of thought and AI.

Researchers have created a biohybrid robot finger, a tiny device that combines 3D-printed parts with living muscle tissue.

“Our main goal is to let patients control them as naturally as though they were their biological limbs,” says Professor Dario Farina from Imperial College.

A team of scientists from Imperial College London and the University of Göttingen have teamed up to create a ‘next generation’ bionic hand. This bionic hand is special because it uses artificial intelligence to improve its functionality.

Wounds and burns could one day be treated by the material spiders use to make their webs.

https://paper.li/e-1437691924#/

Would you put on an exoskeleton that meant you could run for an entire day without getting tired?

What about one that would allow you to stay on your feet longer at work?

Continue reading “Exoskeleton that allows humans to work and play for longer” »