Deus Ex is upon us: "Bionic hand lets wearer feel what they're holding"

[TopWargamer]

http://www.theverge.com/2014/2/5/5379222/prosthetic-hand-lets-wearer-feel-object-shape-hardness-size

 

(I'd embed the video, but I can't embed videos uploaded directly to The verge. Sorry!)

 

(More pictures can be found in The Verge's article.)

 

The latest bionic hand can do a lot more than just let its wearer hold things: it can actually let them feel. By hooking into nerves in an amputee's arm, the new prosthetic can let a person tell how hard or soft an object is and even distinguish its basic shape. "The sensory feedback was incredible," Dennis Sørensen, who wore the hand during its first trial, says in a statement.

 

The research was led from EPFL in Switzerland and SSSA in Italy, and its success is being detailed today in Science Translational Medicine. The work is part of a project called Lifehand 2 — a followup to the original Lifehand prosthetic, which featured a similarly complex form but was controlled by the mind, rather than muscle movements. Corresponding author Silvestro Micera actually announced the new prosthetic last year, but the trial wasn't completed until later.

 

"What was amazing in the subject was the possibility to get — very quickly, almost immediately — the ability to use this restored sense of modality in an effective way," Micera tells The Verge. Though health regulations limited Sørensen's trial to only a month, by the final week he was able to differentiate between three shapes with 88 percent accuracy and between the hardness of three objects with 78.7 percent accuracy. "It is very intuitive," Micera says.

(Please read that last, bolded paragraph.)

 

Wow, that's just...amazing. So, the person was somewhat easily able to use the bionic hand and was able to pick up and hold certain objects with a very high accuracy. Soon, very soon, we will start to see Deus Ex style implants, at least I believe so. Obviously this still has some work to do, but I'm amazed at how well it works, especially at the fact that you can actually feel things.

 

What uses do you think this could have?

(Hint: Lots)

[Kuzma]

Star wars style bionic limbs are incoming.

[Askew]

Anything that helps people who are missing limbs is well worth the investments of time and capital IMO,

I like to see advancements in this kind of technology.

[TheFallOfTroy]

Let's put that hand to work on dem streets

[Lord Pantaloons]

We're still decades away from Deus Ex, also I don't think that a Deus Ex scenario is the right thing to shoot for, after all you need injections to stop your body from rejecting the implants.

[Kuzma]

We're still decades away from Deus Ex, also I don't think that a Deus Ex scenario is the right thing to shoot for, after all you need injections to stop your body from rejecting the implants.

We should be going for a Star Wars situation

[mgsstar]

This is great that people can feel what they are holding rather than just seeing their hand gripping an object and not knowing what they are holding. This also makes them feel more human by being able to detect different surfaces and materials.

[Notional]

I thought a new Deus Ex game was about to launch, I hate you

[Imaginaerum]

If they can actually grow our limbs back with the stem cell stuff they're raving on about it makes me wonder how useful this will be, unless we desire to become robots

[Scionyde]

I didn't ask for this...

 

...but I'm all for it! Sounds cool!

[Puppet]

I thought it was a new Deus Ex game and got all excited, then I clicked on it and was filled with disappointment

 

But this is actually really cool I'm pretty sure I'd be very excited if I had lost an arm. Great technology! 

[AlexGoesHigh]

deus ex... where the hidden blades then 

 

jk

[stuwoac]

http://www.popsci.com/article/science/mind-controlled-robotic-hand-sense-touch?src=SOC&dom=gp

 

check this out pretty cool at the end its saying the next step is to make the computer tiny to fit in the limb this is interesting 

 

 

 

 

[Guest]

http://www.popsci.com/article/science/mind-controlled-robotic-hand-sense-touch?src=SOC&dom=gp

 

check this out pretty cool at the end its saying the next step is to make the computer tiny to fit in the limb this is interesting 

um.. this is tech news? 

[hal9001]

I want it!!!!!

[Jeroen1322]

I want it!!!!!

Do you only have one hand?

[stuwoac]

um.. this is tech news? 

of course its letting a computer talk to your brain and back again to the  arm in this case but the tech could later on be your phone tv etc 

 

so its something to keep a eye on 

 

it is tech is it not 

[KakaoDj]

So soon i can play games without moving my arms 

I will become so fat...

[Guest]

Can you put a litttleeee more information in the post?

[TopWargamer]

Repost: http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/111786-deus-ex-is-upon-us-bionic-hand-lets-wearer-feel-what-theyre-holding/

[Ethnod]

Oh so wonderfully cool. I cant even imagine loosing a limb, having that fake but real sensation that its still there
I really hope that this was a barrier that once broken will catapult that tech forward for people