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General => General Technical Chat => Topic started by: MrOmnos on November 27, 2016, 03:49:18 pm

Title: How long do I have to wait to replace my hand with an electro-mechanical one
Post by: MrOmnos on November 27, 2016, 03:49:18 pm
Are people working on this? If not, why not? If yes, What's the progress?
Title: Re: How long do I have to wait to replace my hand with an electro-mechanical one
Post by: Alex Eisenhut on November 27, 2016, 03:51:55 pm
Huh? I'm waiting for budding technology. If cells were able to organize themselves into a hand in the first place, why can't they do it again?

Stupid salamanders can do it. And they're stupid.
Title: Re: How long do I have to wait to replace my hand with an electro-mechanical one
Post by: SeanB on November 27, 2016, 03:56:06 pm
Yes they are, and the results are improving with each generation. From a claw that was operated with cables to the more modern ones that sense the remaining muscles in your arm for providing motion, and the work is progressing on giving feedback via your existing nerves ( via an implant similar to the cochlear ones that directly stimulate nerve fibres) so you can move the arm and control the hand in a smoother fashion. But these are both very expensive ( research always is) and very personalised for each user.
Title: Re: How long do I have to wait to replace my hand with an electro-mechanical one
Post by: Bud on November 27, 2016, 04:16:23 pm
Why replace, just add one or two more. Very handy for soldering.  :box:
Title: Re: How long do I have to wait to replace my hand with an electro-mechanical one
Post by: BMK on November 27, 2016, 04:57:59 pm
Why replace, just add one or two more. Very handy for soldering.  :box:

I believe in theory of natural selection, but the fact we haven't got three hands kind of disproves the whole thing..
Title: Re: How long do I have to wait to replace my hand with an electro-mechanical one
Post by: gnavigator1007 on November 27, 2016, 05:42:32 pm
A company by the name of Open Bionics is doing some really cool work on low cost open source 3d printed bionic hands for amputees.  A lot of their designs are based on superhero and videogame characters to make them more interesting for young amputees.  There's a good bit of video out there of a young girl named Tilley Lockey showing off her prosthetic.  I've been hoping Dave & Chris will get some of the engineers on The Amp Hour at some point. Highly recommend checking them out. 
Title: Re: How long do I have to wait to replace my hand with an electro-mechanical one
Post by: RoGeorge on November 27, 2016, 06:00:00 pm
Some years ago there was a story about regrowing a human finger.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEnLK0oJCa8 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEnLK0oJCa8)

Maybe they did some progress in the meantime.
Title: Re: How long do I have to wait to replace my hand with an electro-mechanical one
Post by: MrOmnos on November 27, 2016, 06:02:25 pm
A company by the name of Open Bionics is doing some really cool work on low cost open source 3d printed bionic hands for amputees.  A lot of their designs are based on superhero and videogame characters to make them more interesting for young amputees.  There's a good bit of video out there of a young girl named Tilley Lockey showing off her prosthetic.  I've been hoping Dave & Chris will get some of the engineers on The Amp Hour at some point. Highly recommend checking them out.

That's pretty cool. It's going to help a lot of people.
Title: Re: How long do I have to wait to replace my hand with an electro-mechanical one
Post by: Ampera on November 27, 2016, 06:37:05 pm
Why replace, just add one or two more. Very handy for soldering.  :box:

I believe in theory of natural selection, but the fact we haven't got three hands kind of disproves the whole thing..

Probably because one arm is useless, two is a great advantage, and 3+ is too hard to support as a more primitive creature. The more you add to a body, the more it has to eat.
Title: Re: How long do I have to wait to replace my hand with an electro-mechanical one
Post by: SeanB on November 27, 2016, 06:44:10 pm
Most biology is bilaterally symmetrical, so you would need to have 4 arms, and to add this to existing would require adding all the neural interfaces into the existing brain, without destroying the gestalt that is currently regarded as "you". 4 arms from conception possible, but as an addition not too likely.
Title: Re: How long do I have to wait to replace my hand with an electro-mechanical one
Post by: nctnico on November 27, 2016, 07:08:31 pm
Why replace, just add one or two more. Very handy for soldering.  :box:
I believe in theory of natural selection, but the fact we haven't got three hands kind of disproves the whole thing..
I disagree. Sometimes I want to move a third hand/arm into place only to find I'm limited to 2. Also, many monkeys basically have 4 function arms/hands and can use their tails as well so in a sense human evolution went backwards when 'we' started to walk upright.
Title: Re: How long do I have to wait to replace my hand with an electro-mechanical one
Post by: edpalmer42 on November 27, 2016, 07:57:27 pm
Some years ago there was a story about regrowing a human finger.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEnLK0oJCa8 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEnLK0oJCa8)

Maybe they did some progress in the meantime.

If you open this video directly on youtube you'll see a list of 'regrowth' videos down the right side of the page.  I think that this will be the future direction for body repair.  There will probably be technological body enhancements to go beyond what's normal or for special cases.