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Bionic Hands to Become a Reality Soon?

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Mon Nov 28, 2005 05:31 PM
from the can-you-handle-it dept.
Biotech Robotics
Spy der Mann writes "A highly dexterous, bio-inspired artificial hand and sensory system that could provide patients with active feeling, is being developed by a European project called cyberhand. The final prototype includes sensors for tension, force, joint angle, end stroke and contact."
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[+] Bionic Arm Might Go Into Clinical Trials 107 comments
prostoalex writes "The bionic arm project sponsored by DARPA is nearing completion, and might undergo clinical trials. 'The arm has motor control fine enough for test subjects to pluck chocolate-covered coffee beans one by one, pick up a power drill, unlock a door, and shake a hand. Six preconfigured grip settings make this possible, with names like chuck grip, key grip, and power grip. The different grips are shortcuts for the main operations humans perform daily.'"
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  • In other news . . . (Score:5, Funny)

    by PIPBoy3000 (619296) on Monday November 28 2005, @05:34PM (#14133089)
    Steve Austin, Luke Skywalker, and Darth Vader all sue for patent infringement.

  • Switch-Off-On-Demand (Score:4, Funny)

    by fembots (753724) on Monday November 28 2005, @05:34PM (#14133091) Homepage
    It'll be great if the sensors on these bionic hands can be switched on and off at the user's will.

    This way, the users can grab burning lottery ticket out of a fire place.
    • For a moment there, I thought you were going for a reference to "the Stranger."
    • Until it needs to feed, and starts stealing old peoples medicine with its super strength, I better go stock up on Old Glory Insurance.

      P.S. If anyone has a link to that SNL commercial, or a transcript, that would be great as I assume many mods here will have no idea what I am referring to.

  • Hands check! (Score:5, Funny)

    by cosinezero (833532) on Monday November 28 2005, @05:35PM (#14133097)
    Finally, a return to two-handed typing...
    • Actually, I was thinking the same thing, and it's not a joke in my case. But really, I don't need a new hand, I just need to somehow fix what's left of my right hand.
    • Shit- why stop there. I could really cook it I have four hands to type.
      • I could use a third hand on many occasions. Imagine being able to hold a soldering gun, the object to be soldered, and the solder all at the same time.... On occasion, a fourth would be handy (no pun intended) when soldering two things together.

        I probably grumble about wanting a third arm/hand at least twice a week. Of course, I would assume that at least right now, this just ties into the existing nervous system in your arm, which would make it less than useful for adding an additional appendage. Tha

  • Next time you're out and about and some guy named Biff smacks you with a bionic arm implant, don't say Sarlos didn't warn you.

  • Who needs a hand ? (Score:3, Funny)

    by Arthur B. (806360) on Monday November 28 2005, @05:37PM (#14133112)
    Just make a mouse or a keyboard... I'd trade a hand for a direct link to a computer.

  • Stupid groping jokes (Score:3, Funny)

    by southpolesammy (150094) on Monday November 28 2005, @05:37PM (#14133115) Homepage Journal
    "You're on in 5...4...3..."

  • Bionics ,Cybernetics and Faulty Software? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by RealisticCanadian (850967) on Monday November 28 2005, @05:38PM (#14133128) Journal
    So, while this stuff is very kewl, and in particular I've been following development on artificial hands (as far as I know, only the face is more complex), it raises in me the question of what it will bring with it in the near future....

    Cybernetic implants are under development as well, including the borg-like communications chip that most of us would have seen on 'How William Shatner changed the Universe'

    So on top of all the typical moral concerns this subject raises, in the days when we're as much technology as human being, what will be the complications when our complex implants' OS gives us the equivalent of the BSOD?
    • what will be the complications when our complex implants' OS gives us the equivalent of the BSOD?

      Not to worry. It's still a long way off. Microsoft won't release the first beta of "Windows for Prosthetics" for at least a decade or two. It'll probably take a minimum of 5 years before this technology is ready for prime-time, then another 5 years before bionic prosthetic use reaches a critical mass to even get on MS's radar screen. After that it's another 5+ years of all the marketing, vaporware hype, pres
    • "So on top of all the typical moral concerns this subject raises"

      I don't have any moral concerns about this technology or others like it. All I feel when I see research like this is hope.

      Growing up I watched my father struggle with activities that most of us take for granted. I am not just referring to walking and picking things up, but breathing and being able to get out of bed to see his children growing up. You see, he was in the last wave of people who had Polio before the vaccine was developed and r

  • Best of What's New 2005 (Score:5, Informative)

    by aborlancop1 (934263) on Monday November 28 2005, @05:41PM (#14133151)
    According to Popular Science, there's already a mind-controlled bionic arm out. It allows for better movement than previous prosthetic limbs as well.

    http://www.popsci.com/popsci/bown2005/personalheal th/19e6ee82ea447010vgnvcm1000004eecbccdrcrd.html [popsci.com]

    "Welcome to the future of prosthetic limbs: true mind control. For the first time ever, an amputee need only think about a movement--picking up a glass, for instance--and the 12-pound Neuro-Controlled Bionic Arm dutifully coordinates the task. Electrodes intercept the limb's residual nerve firings and feed them to a computer embedded in the forearm, which then commands six motors to move the device's shoulder, elbow and hand in unison. Thanks to hand sensors, the wearer can even gauge pressure and fine-tune his grip.

    For now, the prototype arm fits just one man, Jesse Sullivan. This year, Sullivan demonstrated the device at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, where doctors are working to refine it. A faster, more durable commercial version should be ready by 2008, but the ultimate goal is a robotic limb that functions as well as, if not better than, its human analogue."

    It isn't as good as an arm that allows for feeling, but hey, think of what happens when a bionic arm that allows you to feel has an error. Ouchies.
    • what happens when a bionic arm that allows you to feel has an error.
      What happens if you have a phantom limb where a bionic arm gets put in place? Will you feel pain in the artificial arm?
    • It isn't as good as an arm that allows for feeling, but hey, think of what happens when a bionic arm that allows you to feel has an error. Ouchies.

      Presumably there's some limitation in design the human-machine interface- the actual parts that stimulate the nerve endings to make them think they're feeling something- which would preclude them from generating any exceedingly intense pain.

  • An Addendum: (Score:3, Funny)

    by abscondment (672321) on Monday November 28 2005, @05:43PM (#14133176) Homepage

    From the website:

    1. be felt by an amputee as the lost natural limb delivering her/him a natural sensory feedback by means of the stimulation of some specific afferent nerves;
    2. be controlled in a very natural way by processing the efferent neural signals coming from the central nervous system (reducing the discomfort of the current EMG-based control prosthesis);
    3. be endorsed by the Darth Vader foundation trust;
    4. be accessible to supervillians everywhere.
  • The final prototype includes sensors for tension, force, joint angle, end stroke and contact."

    bwa hahahahhaah

  • Market size and other uses? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by dada21 (163177) * <adam.dada@gmail.com> on Monday November 28 2005, @05:45PM (#14133191) Homepage Journal
    What is the size of the market for people who need a new hand? I'm intrigued for seeing deeper into the business plan here.

    Are there profitable products that can be extended from this one? Maybe cybernetics for the non-handicapped in controlling machinery or possibly military purposes?

    I'm not saying that there shouldn't be research for the handicapped, I'm just trying to see how a corporation justifiesthe expenses.

    Or is this a government-funded (theft) product? If so, I'll say it is a waste.
  • After all, there are several Italians on the project.

    (don't worry, I'll handle this myself: boooooo!)
  • Uh oh, we all know what this means: the LARPers can start in on Cyberpunk and Shadowrun.

  • Might I be the first patch submitter? (Score:3, Funny)

    by hkb (777908) on Monday November 28 2005, @05:53PM (#14133255)
    if( hand.Contents() ~= tubular && hand.Contents() == flesh)
    {
          strength = strength /10;
    }

  • but (Score:3, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 28 2005, @05:53PM (#14133256)
    does it run linux? can it play ogg?
  • ...Who is this Martin Fink I'm hearing so much about?

  • Alternatively... (Score:5, Funny)

    by hkb (777908) on Monday November 28 2005, @05:55PM (#14133273)
    "Wow, it really DOES feel like a stranger!"

  • The real question is... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by avalys (221114) on Monday November 28 2005, @05:58PM (#14133294)
    Being technically able to produce one of these things is all well and good, but the real question is how long it will be before they cost less than $100,000.

  • Bionic eyes? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by ichigo 2.0 (900288) on Monday November 28 2005, @06:00PM (#14133310)
    Wonder how long till someone develops bionic eyes? I've been itching to ditch these failing organic meatballs called eyes for something better. High-def bionic eyes with zoom and night-vision would be pretty cool, not to mention the possibility of using them as a way to overlay information on top of stuff you see. Getting spyware could be quite annoying though, and if law enforcement had a way of remotely disabling them would suck, but maybe one could avoid that by running OS software on them. :)
    • We already have zoom. It involves moving either your eye closer to the object or the object closer to your eye. Try it. It's amazing!
      • Obligatory Red Dwarf quote?

        (from memory)
        Kryten (as human): "I can't seem to activate my 'zoom' function. How can I bring a distant object into sharp focus?"
        Lister: "Uh. You just move your head closer to the object."
        Kryten: "What about other optical effects? Slow-motion? Split-screen? Quantel?"
  • For some reason I thought of Red Dwarf instead of Star Wars when I saw this article...

    "Hand, pick up the ball!"
  • A hand that won't get tired? My girlfriend will love this. And by "girlfriend," I mean myself. With three hand I'll be able to pleasure myself *and* post foul comments on Slashdot. W00t!
  • Yeah but does it run linux?

    Imagine a beowulf cluster of these!

    In Soviet Russia, hand grabs you!

    Hey, I'm a bionic man you insensitive clod!
  • So next time you grab ass, in your defense just remember your bionic hand has a mind of it's own...
  • Actually, I've been watching too much Ghost in the Shell - Stand Alone Complex [wikipedia.org], but if we have full (at least prototype) cyborg bodies by 2015 whe should be keeping up to the stories time line. Although, the Major should be in her 25-30ish and according to the plot line she had her cyborg body around age 9 which would be any day now.

  • Heat concerns. (Score:5, Interesting)

    by ShadowBlasko (597519) on Monday November 28 2005, @06:55PM (#14133775) Homepage
    As I know someone with partially servo controlled limb, I occasionally get to read some of the literature that is targeted towards people who need such devices. Something that seems to be a constant concern is heat dissapation.

    The loss of a hand is a tremendous blow to the bodies ability to cool itself, and the addition of anything that creates additional heat is usually considered to be non-starter.

    As I am unable to read the article from here I can not see if that is addressed within, but I am curious as to if there were any comments regarding it.
    • That makes me wonder, on a serious note, what kind of heat this will produce? Might there be a rick of burning your skin it is attached to if you move too much? Will this cause excess sweating of the forearm? Or the armpit of whatever arm it is attached to? Will others get freaked the hell out when your hand feels really freaking weird when they shake it?

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