• Double amputee controls two bionic arms at the same time
    27 replies, posted
[video=youtube;9NOncx2jU0Q]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NOncx2jU0Q[/video] [url]http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/196190-a-taste-of-the-future-double-amputee-controls-two-bionic-arms-at-the-same-time[/url] [QUOTE]Colorado resident Les Baugh has become the newest face of bionic technology, as researchers from Johns Hopkins have fitted him with [I]two[/I] cutting edge bionic limbs under direct control from his brain. Not only is this a major evolution for modern prosthetics, but it’s also managed to capture the imaginations of millions because it, first of all, looks really cool, and second, because it clearly illustrates the equivalence of biology and tech. The sight of the man fitted with two Modular Prosthetic Limbs (MPLs) really drives the point home: we are well on our way to the sort of bionics that powerfully challenge our concept of humanity.[/QUOTE]
Imagine how wonderful it must feel to be able to grab shit after not being able to do so for 40 years.
Holy crap, this looks so frigging [b]awesome[/b].
The progress is going well, which is great. Lets hope we can keep it up.
He always asked for this.
Awesome. I really hope they make further advancements so the more unfortunate people of our society are able to live normal lives again.
He's augmented. [editline]a[/editline] When he's talking about putting change in a soda machine, that's honestly probably too optimistic unless someone hands him it or something I wouldn't think reaching into your pocket to fish out change/your wallet with change within it is a very easy thing to do with prosthetic arms.
Just shows what a massive fucking joke the healthcare system is within America now. He has the right to [I]bear arms[/I], not [I]robotic ones[/I].
darpa developed? Cool. Guess it shows that some of our military spending really does come back to benefit us.
[QUOTE=Nebukadnezzer;46752802]darpa developed? Cool. Guess it shows that some of our military spending really does come back to benefit us.[/QUOTE]DARPA's going to be stuffing critically injured soldiers into bionic life support combat frames in no time
now I want a gunslinger from tf2. totally worth it
[QUOTE=gk99;46752787]that's honestly probably too optimistic unless someone hands him it [/QUOTE] [Sad trombone]
[QUOTE=milkandcooki;46752716]Imagine how wonderful it must feel to be able to grab shit after not being able to do so for 40 years.[/QUOTE] Imagine not being able to scratch itches for 40 years.
I wonder how long it'll take them to get the prosthetic to work near-naturally. They mentioned he has to individually position each part of the arm, which is a massive improvement over no arms, but damn that must be so weird to think "okay, my shoulder needs to rotate a bit more, then I can turn my wrist...".
[QUOTE=Joazzz;46752893]DARPA's going to be stuffing critically injured soldiers into bionic life support combat frames in no time[/QUOTE] "But Sarge, I don't think I'm ready for this..." "[I]Just...shut up and get in the [B]FUCKING THING![/B][/I]" [editline]19th December 2014[/editline] [QUOTE=hexpunK;46753148]I wonder how long it'll take them to get the prosthetic to work near-naturally. They mentioned he has to individually position each part of the arm, which is a massive improvement over no arms, but damn that must be so weird to think "okay, my shoulder needs to rotate a bit more, then I can turn my wrist...".[/QUOTE] Sooo what you're saying is that we make them play [I]Surgeon Simulator[/I] & [I]Probably Archery[/I] for physical therapy?
[QUOTE] The limbs already weigh about as much as a real arm, and the team even wants to cover it in a skin-like material so it doesn’t stick out in public.[/QUOTE] Being the attention whore that I am, I'd more than likely forego the skin and let everyone see that my arms are cooler than theirs.
[QUOTE=ScottyWired;46753260]Being the attention whore that I am, I'd more than likely forego the skin and let everyone see that my arms are cooler than theirs.[/QUOTE] [I]"I asked for this"[/I]
It's amazing how much progress is being made with prosthetics. I think though, from what I can see with all recent robotics, is that there needs to be some major breakthroughs in nervous system-prosthetic limb communication. As of this moment all the movement feels somewhat clunky and unresponsive from what I can tell. Imagine a technology that can be easily installed, does not require intense nerve training, and feels fluid and natural. It would revolutionize everything. If robotics and the prosthetics themselves can match that level of communication we might even see Deus-Ex type shit in a century or two. at this rate, maybe within 100 years we'll have fully fledged natural feeling robot arms. But I'd be awesome to see it sooner.
[QUOTE=hexpunK;46753148]I wonder how long it'll take them to get the prosthetic to work near-naturally. They mentioned he has to individually position each part of the arm, which is a massive improvement over no arms, but damn that must be so weird to think "okay, my shoulder needs to rotate a bit more, then I can turn my wrist...".[/QUOTE] I've lost the video, but there was one team that worked with someone who had been paralysed, where instead of having rotational movements like this they instead trained him to imagine moving a ball in 3D space, and then applied this to a robotic arm. I imagine the next step will be more like this, as it will mean you control where you want your hand, rather than individually moving each joint to get your hand somewhere.
[QUOTE=lifehole;46753352]Imagine a technology that can be easily installed, does not require intense nerve training, and feels fluid and natural. It would revolutionize everything. If robotics and the prosthetics themselves can match that level of communication we might even see Deus-Ex type shit in a century or two. at this rate, maybe within 100 years we'll have fully fledged natural feeling robot arms. But I'd be awesome to see it sooner.[/QUOTE] I don't think it would take a century to achieve a normal degree of motion. Maybe a decade or two, but not an entire century. The hardware is there - the arm looks like it can move at all degrees if manually manipulated - but the software isn't. Fortunately, software is only constrained by code, not physics. [editline]19th December 2014[/editline] Recreating the senses will probably take longer, but not too long.
[QUOTE=lifehole;46753352]It's amazing how much progress is being made with prosthetics. I think though, from what I can see with all recent robotics, is that there needs to be some major breakthroughs in nervous system-prosthetic limb communication. As of this moment all the movement feels somewhat clunky and unresponsive from what I can tell. Imagine a technology that can be easily installed, does not require intense nerve training, and feels fluid and natural. It would revolutionize everything. If robotics and the prosthetics themselves can match that level of communication we might even see Deus-Ex type shit in a century or two. at this rate, maybe within 100 years we'll have fully fledged natural feeling robot arms. But I'd be awesome to see it sooner.[/QUOTE] Frankly, at the pace we seem to be going, we'll probably hit the mark in a few decades, at least. Maybe not DE shit, but close to it.
I feel like this could be one of "those" historically iconic pictures [t]http://i.cubeupload.com/Pr6ThV.jpg[/t]
We are getting closer and closer on prosthetics... soon we will have cybernetic prosthetics like our dystopian future we dream up like dues ex, and later on we will have full body prosthetics like ghost in the shell... I can't wait for the future to where back pain and leg pains no longer exist on a prosthetic spine.
[QUOTE=CorporalCupCake;46753778]Frankly, at the pace we seem to be going, we'll probably hit the mark in a few decades, at least. Maybe not DE shit, but close to it.[/QUOTE] Ehh, I guess I'm not an optimist. Currently moving the arms alone requires immense focus; and some major breakthroughs on the topics I mentioned to easily enable natural, fluid motion without intense amounts of focus and training will be necessary. I mean these types of prosthetics require active, conscious focus that takes large amounts of mental power to move, far from the unconscious muscle patterns my fingers have in typing this. We'll need to make arms be controlled by actual nerve connections to the appropriate area of the brain (or something just as viable as that,) and learn to translate nervous signals into movements that feel natural and fluid. I doubt we'll have hands capable of 40-80 wpm typing within the next few decades.
[QUOTE=lifehole;46754195]Ehh, I guess I'm not an optimist. Currently moving the arms alone requires immense focus and some major breakthroughs on the topics I mentioned to easily enable natural, fluid motion without intense amounts of focus and training will be necessary. I mean these types of prosthetics require active, conscious focus that takes large amounts of mental power to move, far from the unconscious muscle patterns my fingers have in typing this. We'll need to make arms be controlled by actual nerve connections to the appropriate area of the brain (or something just as viable as that,) and learn to translate nervous signals into movements that feel natural and fluid. I doubt we'll have hands capable of 40-80 wpm typing within the next few decades.[/QUOTE] I'd like to see how he does with them after having them for a couple years. I remember the first time I started typing back when I was like 6, I had to look at the keyboard and do the whole "pointer finger to each letter" at like, a whopping 10-20 wpm lol. Sure it might not be completely muscle-like fluidity, but still.
[QUOTE=Nebukadnezzer;46752802]darpa developed? Cool. Guess it shows that some of our military spending really does come back to benefit us.[/QUOTE] DARPA already has prototype soft exo suits for soldiers in the field that allow them to sprint up cliffs with little to no effort already: [t]http://thewestsidestory.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/harvardswyss.jpg[/t]
[QUOTE=codemaster85;46754840]DARPA already has prototype soft exo suits for soldiers in the field that allow them to sprint up cliffs with little to no effort already: [t]http://thewestsidestory.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/harvardswyss.jpg[/t][/QUOTE] Good! Now we can add 50 more pounds to their kit and it'll only reduce their speed back down to normal levels!
I hope we can soon get this funded so more research can be put into it. I don't see it being closer than 5-10 years away, but the sooner the better.
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