Clever Artificial Hand Developed 195
AccUser writes "The BBC is reporting that scientists have developed an ultra-light limb that they claim can mimic the movement in a real hand better than any currently available. Researcher Dr Paul Chappell, a medical physicist who worked on the device, said, 'With this hand you can clutch objects such as a ball, you can move the thumb out to one side and grip objects with the index finger in the way you do when opening a lock with a key, and you can wrap your fingers around an object in what we call the power grip - like the one you use when you hold a hammer or a microphone.'"
Better pic (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Better pic (Score:1, Funny)
Clever Artificial Hand? (Score:1, Funny)
*ducks*
Re:Better pic (Score:2)
Re:Better pic (Score:5, Funny)
Rimshot
(The stranger is a masturbation tecnique whereby a male sits on his hand until it goes numb, at which point he can use the numb hand to stroke his willy, thereby recieveing tactile sensations on the male member, but not on the hand.)
Re:Better pic (Score:2)
In other news... (Score:5, Funny)
hmm (Score:1)
Finally (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Finally (Score:2)
Re:Finally (Score:2)
The hand is not the optimal holding shape (Score:3, Interesting)
They are looking to mimic humans, but I doubt human form is the most efficient and adaptable. A blob-like form consisting of millions of nanobots working together, sometimes loosely, sometimes in a tight lattice, would make much more sense as it could take on any form and be solid or "liquid" at any given time.
Re:The hand is not the optimal holding shape (Score:5, Funny)
Wouldn't it be better to just give the patients mutant psychokinetic powers so they can levitate objects wherever they want? Oh I'm sorry, were you talking about things which can *actually* be achieved in the forseeable future?
Re:The hand is not the optimal holding shape (Score:4, Interesting)
Shadow's hand *not* for people to wear (Score:2, Interesting)
If you'd actually been paying attention you'd have noticed that the "Shadow Hand" is a prototype for industrial applications and such. Not medicine.
While their products is also sweet, it is NOT something to compare to prosthetics. That puppy comes with a large pneumatic cylinder attached... might make it a *tad* conspicuous out and about.
Nice try tho. :^)
Re:The hand is not the optimal holding shape (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:The hand is not the optimal holding shape (Score:5, Interesting)
Interesting that you include hearing aids in that list. I've wondered about this for a few years, on and off (I really should get out more), but while glasses have become fashion items, and people with good eyesight will use glasses to help them further (eg sunglasses), you don't see people using hearing aids unless they really have to!
I have partial hearing loss and wouldn't even think of using a hearing aid, but anyone with slightly wonky eyes will get themselves some glasses.
How about hearing aids for people with good hearing, for use at the cinema or theatre, that would filter out the dim-wits with their mobile phones and packets of crisps?
How about a device to wear at the Pub which can allow you to filter out the background noise and actually hear, and converse with, your friends?
I reckon there's a long way to go before hearing aids can be mentioned in the same sentence as glasses!
Re:The hand is not the optimal holding shape (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Hearing aid stigma (Score:2)
During World War II many soldiers that fought overseas were constantly exposed to extremely loud noise. I guess you could say this about any group of soldiers at any time, but the major impact here was the sheer volume of Americans that went off to war.
My grand
Re:The hand is not the optimal holding shape (Score:5, Funny)
You could make some with white ear buds, connect them to a white amplifier box with a circle on the front, and you'd be as flash as a rat with a gold tooth...
Re:The hand is not the optimal holding shape (Score:3, Interesting)
Someone is already thinking about this ...
Deaf charity wants high fashion hearing aids [theregister.co.uk]
The Victoria & Albert Museum in London is hosting an exhibition of high-fashion hearing aids, called Hearwear, in a bid to rehabilitate the devices and make them seem more attractive to those who might need them.
Re:The hand is not the optimal holding shape (Score:2)
Make it look *cool* and that would all change. Current hearing aids just don't look cool.
Re:The hand is not the optimal holding shape (Score:2)
Re:The hand is not the optimal holding shape (Score:2)
Re:The hand is not the optimal holding shape (Score:3, Informative)
Re:The hand is not the optimal holding shape (Score:1)
Re:The hand is not the optimal holding shape (Score:2)
Yep, glasses are nothing like hearing aids - since you can't really see hearing aids most of the time.
Re:The hand is not the optimal holding shape (Score:2)
the bonus of wearing glasses is just too much, besides some people wear contacts or go to surgery to get it fixed and some people don't use their glasses too much. of course there's then that if you have bad vision you must use glasses while driving so you must have them with you anyways.
the older you get the more stubborn you get to not use aids like glasses or, my grandmother doesn't want to wear her hearing aid because sh
Re:The hand is not the optimal holding shape (Score:2)
As long as it didn't cause me discomfort, I'd definitely try something like that. I have some trouble with that sort of thing. While I hear amplitude well, I commonly have to ask people to repeat the
Re:The hand is not the optimal holding shape (Score:2, Informative)
I have alot of hearing loss (from a combination of loud noises and as th
Re:The hand is not the optimal holding shape (Score:2)
More common, especially as we age, is high frequency hearing loss. Most of the information needed to understand speech is at higher frequencies, but most of the acoustic energy is at lower frequencies. Even though one may easily hear the
Re:The hand is not the optimal holding shape (Score:2)
When I have this problem, I cannot "repeat the words back word for word", and repeating it with clear enunciation (and maybe increased volume) almost alwa
Re:The hand is not the optimal holding shape (Score:2)
They did that back in the 60's [starbase21ok.com], but nobody bought it.
--Rob
Re:The hand is not the optimal holding shape (Score:3, Interesting)
I imagine some wireless buds where, by turning the bezel of the watch they come with, you can adjust the mix between outside noise and other sources (phone, music, computer, etc). The watch would also function as a display for various info in addition to the time- Caller ID, song titles, etc.
Of course, the new can of worms this would open would be people r
Re:The hand is not the optimal holding shape (Score:2)
Re:The hand is not the optimal holding shape (Score:3, Interesting)
I'm not sure if you're intentionally leaving them out but most theaters already have little headsets you can borrow for any movie. Some require holding your license til it's over, depends where you are. Also they have to remember to turn on a transmitter upstairs before the movie starts or you'll just get static.
In addition I've heard of two other things but haven't been able to verify anyplace that has them yet. One is
Re:The hand is not the optimal holding shape (Score:2)
I think the biggest thing is not to try to hide them. Stop making them flesh colored! We don't have flesh colored eyeglasses.
Make them look like a cool peice of tech. Make them comfortable to wear
Re:The hand is not the optimal holding shape (Score:2, Insightful)
I know parents get a little crazy with their own kids and want everything to be perfect and many would go through anything to get their young baby equiped with an artifi
Re:The hand is not the optimal holding shape (Score:2)
They are looking to mimic humans, but I doubt human form is the most efficient and adaptable. A blob-like form consisting of millions of nanobots working together, sometimes loosely, sometimes in a tight lattice, would make much more sense as i
Re:The hand is not the optimal holding shape (Score:2)
Re:The hand is not the optimal holding shape (Score:2)
They are looking to mimic humans, but I doubt human form is the most efficient and adaptable.
I doubt we're going to come up with a better design than millions of years of natural selection. Besides, so many of the objects we use every day were designed to work well with human hands. Sure, you can usually custom design something to work better than hands for a particular task, but building new hardware for every new task is time consuming and wasteful. With a generic human-like hand you don't need to d
Re:The hand is not the optimal holding shape (Score:2, Insightful)
I agree that the best replacement for a lost human hand is probably a human hand. However:
I doubt we're going to come up with a better design than millions of years of natural selection.
I think it is actually easy sometimes. The 'design' of the human eye for instance is crap. No sane engineer would start from a light sensitive sensor, drill a hole through it (thereby creating a blind spot), draw some wires though it and place the readout devices in front of the light sensitive surface (thereby reduc
Just what I'm looking for (Score:5, Funny)
Well, that's the only criteria I'm looking for in an artificial hand... I do a lot of... you know... karaoke.
Re:Just what I'm looking for (Score:5, Funny)
You wave to her in a bar.
Your hand suddenly starts vibrating at a few thousand rpm. Don't even have to say a word.
Sure anybody could give a backrub, but how many people could give a backrub at several thousand rpm.
backrub ??? (Score:2)
several thousand rpm's and the best you can come up with is a back rub ?!?!?!? hello !!! McFly !!!
Re:Just what I'm looking for (Score:2)
Combine your love for karaoke (Score:2)
Re:Just what I'm looking for (Score:1)
Anyway, it reminds me a joke:
A rich man wants to impress his rich friends. He looks at the catalogue of expensive stuff for rich people, when he is attracted by tha announce of the "Artificial hand". He goes to the doctor which implants the device.
The doctor assures him: - The hand is completely automated, voice commanded.
The rich man goes home with his shiny new artificial hand. He decide
Oh c'mon (Score:5, Funny)
Oh c'mon You're making the jokes too easy for us!
Re:Oh c'mon (Score:5, Funny)
You have to hand it to the submitter
Re:Oh c'mon (Score:2)
in my family... (Score:2, Funny)
Claims Too Strong! (Score:4, Insightful)
There are plenty of robot hands that are far better than this. e.g. #1 [shadow.org.uk] e.g. #2 [barrett.com].
Re:Claims Too Strong! (Score:5, Insightful)
a BIG improvement (Score:2, Funny)
sorry, couldnt resist that one... ;)
Very Promising Future of Prosthetics... (Score:4, Interesting)
I wonder how well someone could type with this hand though, am sure that hunting and pecking would work fine, but since this is controlled by the muscles in the arm, not so sure how efficient typing might be with this hand...
One way to accessorize this hand might be to encase it in a skin toned covering, to more realistically mimic a human hand, and at least to not be so ovbious as this hand is...
Overall this looks like a good step forward in prosthetics... soon people who are unfortunate enough to lose a limb, will be able to lead more normal lives... this is wonderful.
Re:Very Promising Future of Prosthetics... (Score:2)
Re:Very Promising Future of Prosthetics... (Score:2)
It doesn't look like it's nearly up to the task of being the fretting hand
If you need it on the left, maybe you could pre-program it with the correct hand shapes for various chords - 3 should be enough to play some Oasis anyway :-) - and you could get quite far with bar chords too...
Re:Very Promising Future of Prosthetics... (Score:1)
How does the user control it? (Score:2, Interesting)
So you've got a prosthetic hand with fully functioning fingers... How does the user of the hand control six, separate motors?
Re:How does the user control it? (Score:4, Informative)
Re:How does the user control it? (Score:1)
^_~
My bad, I missed it.
Re:How does the user control it? (Score:1)
the biggest challenge... (Score:4, Insightful)
Harder to mitigate, however, is going to be the cost. Trying to get this product to be affordable enough to be used by large quantities of people will be another feat, comparable to the one mentioned in TFA.
Re:the biggest challenge... (Score:2)
If the problem of attachment is solved, why stop at hand replacement? Some individuals may be capable of controlling several hands, possibly augmented in a fly-by-wire sort of way. Surgeons would seem obvious early adopters. Perhaps control and sensitivity could be switched from hand to hand, using a lockdown mode to "hold what ya got". Hands need not be life sized....but I guess this really is old ground....right Waldo?
billy
Re:the biggest challenge... (Score:2)
I would have to both agree and disagree.
Disagree: the biggest challenge, and certianly the most important one, is to make sure that the artificial hand won't grip too tightly when viewing pr0n.
Agree: it will be difficult to train patients to use the new hand.
Hey, on the many possible individual m
Oh come on (Score:5, Funny)
Furthermore, the events depicted in star wars happened "A long time ago" so they must be even older than that.
I call prior art prior art. (Score:1, Funny)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thing_(Addams_Family
Sure, that's an advanced thumb... (Score:1)
opposable thumb (Score:2, Interesting)
The biggest question; as more sophisticate motorized artificial limb gets, more sensitive sensor to control it requires.
If the question above is solved with "clever" routine to detect movement in sync with rest of fingers (ie. gripping torch.. hem or just giving thumbs up or middle finger), I'm assuming most basic movement will be predetermined/predefined according to how the sensor detects the motion or object by means of basic push/pull mechanism from wrist muscle.
If
Chapelle? (Score:2)
SLAP!
Call Kevin! (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Call Kevin! (Score:2)
Re:Call Kevin! (Score:2)
Professor of Cybernetics University of Reading
Imagine that! A University of Reading! Do they have other schools for "Riting" and "'Rhythmatic"? I can't imagine a school specializing in just one discipline, let alone needing a Professor of Cybernetics for a University of Reading. I guess you want your robots to read well.
Better, Faster, Stronger (Score:2, Insightful)
Ultimately replacement limbs should be better that the originals and this is a fantastic step in the right direction.
Brace yourself (Score:1, Redundant)
The doctors gave him drugs to help his body accept (Score:1, Offtopic)
Prosthetic hand... (Score:1)
the power grip (Score:5, Funny)
How About An Iarm? (Score:2, Informative)
As much as I love this kind of technology... (Score:2)
Long way to go (Score:1)
Re:Long way to go (Score:2)
But Really... (Score:1)
Lightsaber (Score:2)
"With this hand you can clutch objects such as a ball,
Michael. [michael-forman.com]
Keep marketing out of it (Score:2)
From TFA:
Not to detract from the good work these guys are doing to restore mobility to the disabled, but... They can claim all they want about "any currently available," doesn't make it any less b*llsh*t. The Shadow Dextrous Hand [shadow.org.uk] has been available since 2002 and has way more degrees of freedom (they have all five DoF on the thumb for starters, not just two). The only t
It;s not the hand... (Score:5, Interesting)
Not to piss on your idea but... (Score:2)
Re:It;s not the hand... (Score:2)
Hasn't something better been done (Score:1)
Wow, I was just wondering about this... (Score:2)
I was just thinking about this a couple days ago. I think every office is going to need one of these in the future. There's just too much mindless manual labor that occurs from day to day. Sure, the hardware is only part of the story, but once you've got the hardware you can download the software updates.
For instance, I work as an accountant, and maybe half my time is spent opening envelopes, making photocopies, typing in data, etc. With a computer doing all that easy stuff, it'd leave me to the stuff
I wonder how its controlled? (Score:2, Funny)
Are they leaving it to our imagination? (Score:2)
Hmmm...after a user is done holding "a ball", he'll want to hold his "hammer or microphone." Why doesn't he just say what he means!? We all know what some guy who had no hands will do as soon as he gets a new one!
From the can of beans it's holding..... (Score:2)
that's not really a clever hand (Score:2)
hm, I feel a theme building here...
Scale it UP! (Score:2)
How about sending these things up next time we need to fix a satellite and saving our astronauts' radation exposure for the important stuff?
How would these fare against what deepsea diving suits use?
The inventors announcement (Score:2)
But can it cock a gun? (Score:2)
(laugh. it's funny)
Re:But can it cock a gun? (Score:2)
Attn: Lan Sierran? (Score:2)