Clever Artificial Hand Developed

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.'"

Comments

Better pic

[Anonymous Coward]

Image here

Re:Better pic

[Vorondil28]

Yeah, but that isn't holding a can of "Healthy Beans."

Re:Better pic

[Anonymous Coward]

perhaps the beans weren't so healthy after all?

Re:Better pic

[jacoby]

Nobody gets that it's Terminator memorabilia?

Re:Better pic

[Alex P Keaton in da]

It gives new meaning to "the stranger"
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

[Rude Turnip]

Yeah, but it's still a guy's hand, making the situation even sadder.

Re:Better pic

[Afrosheen]

I always assumed that 'the stranger' was using your other hand rather than your 'daily stroker' hand. I guess your disturbing explanation changes all that.

But...

[Anonymous Coward]

...does it run Linux?

Re:But...

[Anonymous Coward]

Does it matter? Now you can surf porn with two hands....

Can you imagine a beowulf cluster of these babies?
All your wallets are gonna belong to Robot Hand
When you issues commands, will it say: "Talk to the hand coz the face don't wanna hear it know more"?
Yes I'll be here all week. Try the horse-meat.

In other news...

[Anonymous Coward]

Dr Paul is now Dr Pauline after some over-enthusiastic power grip testing...

hmm

[Tezkah]

perhaps this "clever hand" could type fast enough to get first post on slashdot?

Re:hmm

[Wontsomebodypleaseth]

Can you attach a flamethrower to it?

Finally

[dxprog]

For those of you who have had their hands severed by their father, relief has come!

Re:Finally

[Tatarize]

But, how about those's fathers who's sons chops off their (the fathers) own fake hand again? Does it have a warranty?

Re:Finally

[Enrico Pulatzo]

Well, the warranty ran out a Long Time Ago so you're prolly SOL.

Re:Finally

[Anonymous Coward]

But I still have both my hands, you insensitive clod!

The hand is not the optimal holding shape

[ReformedExCon]

I imagine something more along the lines of a malleable gel or putty that can form any shape thereby increasing contact surface area and making the grip stronger without increasing the amount of force on the object. It could hold an egg just as easily as an I-beam.

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

[Anonymous Coward]

It's meant to replace prosthetic hands, not hold I-beams.

Re:The hand is not the optimal holding shape

[Anonymous Coward]

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.

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

[lightyear4]

A far better analog to the human hand is located here. The robotics folks over at Shadow really know what they're doing (check the videos). As anyone who checks the Shadow site will see, TFA's "clever artificial hand" does not win the prize for "the first artificially-made opposable thumb." Interesting nevertheless..if only we could see some realworld applications..

Re:The hand is not the optimal holding shape

[patio11]

Aside from your solution being squarely in the realm of science fiction at the moment, while folks need hands now, people with disabilities don't want to screamed at every time they look down that they're something other than human (they get that enough from other people, sad but true). The hand is an assistive technology, true, but the goal should be that it "just works" and does so as unobtrusively as possible, so that it doesn't stick out any more than, say, glasses, contacts, cochlear implants, or hearing aids. Having your hand appear the consistency of frying eggs when attempting to pick up your glass at dinner time does not fulfill this important design goal.

Re:The hand is not the optimal holding shape

[crimoid]

I imagine something more along the lines of a malleable gel or putty that can form any shape thereby increasing contact surface area and making the grip stronger without increasing the amount of force on the object. It could hold an egg just as easily as an I-beam.

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.

In a human world where things are designed for humans with hands the most efficient thing to mimic would probably be a human hand. A nanobot blob might be the ideal holding device, but given the fact that the technology doesn't even exist it certainly isn't the most efficient.

Re:The hand is not the optimal holding shape

[AGMW]

The hand is an assistive technology, true, but the goal should be that it "just works" and does so as unobtrusively as possible, so that it doesn't stick out any more than, say, glasses, contacts, cochlear implants, or hearing aids.

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!

... and what about some sense of fashion for hearing aids? Sure, they are becoming smaller and smaller, but this is just to allow them to be hidden.

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

[koniosis]

I have partial hearing loss and wouldn't even think of using a hearing aid

I'm sorry that you feel that way, I have a number of friends who require and use hearing aids and no one, I mean NO ONE makes a fuss, people don't point and stare even children don't, perhaps you are more paranoid than you think, give them a try and you'll realise that people don't see it as a "disability" any more than glasses after all. If you are really afraid you can get concealed aids that are very hard to notice unless you look someone directly in ear and pay attention. Like you say people who need glasses where them, equally people who need hearing aids wear them but you'll always get people who deny that they need glasses/aids etc etc. You admit that you require a hearing aid, get out there and stop caring what people think (or don't as the case may be) and you'll be back to a world of full stereo enjoyment :D

Re:The hand is not the optimal holding shape

[koniosis]

I agree, and would a nano blob be able to turn handles and poke at things and do all the other things that our hands can do besides holding things. Although I don't know why we're discussing this since it is pure science fiction right now. In that light my proposed nano blob hand can make you fly and teleport you places :D

Re:The hand is not the optimal holding shape

[ozmanjusri]

... and what about some sense of fashion for hearing aids?

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

[stuckinarut]

Someone is already thinking about this ...

Deaf charity wants high fashion hearing aids

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

[ZorbaTHut]

That's because every hearing aid on the planet is designed to be unobtrusive, but when you notice it, it just looks like a lump of pink plastic.

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

[David Horn]

What I fail to understand is why the majority of hearing aids are so totally different in colour to normal skin.

Re:The hand is not the optimal holding shape

[Takumi2501]

What about all those people with contact lenses, because they don't like wearing glasses?

Re:The hand is not the optimal holding shape

[mattyrobinson69]

because if they missed off a colour (dark brown(black people), yellowy(chineese), orange(dale winton),grey'y(greek), etc they'd be called racist/dale winton haters

Re:The hand is not the optimal holding shape

[Anonymous Coward]

No. Everyone knows a hook does the job better!

Re:The hand is not the optimal holding shape

[ReformedExCon]

That's not really a concern, though.

Ever had a tooth replaced at the dentist? They can custom color your new teeth to match the yellow of your old teeth. There really isn't a reason they couldn't do something similar to match the skin color of any hearing-aid patient.

Re:The hand is not the optimal holding shape

[gl4ss]

hearing doesn't really matter as much and you can still just ask people to speak up.

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 she already got used to that paper doesn't make any noise and that walking on snow is silent - probably a fair bit of stubborness there too.

so.. get one before you get used to the silence or it might annoy the hell out of when you get one and seem "wrong" sounding even if it wasn't.

Re:The hand is not the optimal holding shape

[thc69]

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?

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 themselves -- I've heard a bunch of noise come from them, but failed to decode it. Sometimes if I just wait and think about it before asking them to repeat, I can figure it out.

There's probably a medical term for this. Maybe geek-brain-developed-for-technical-stuff-at-the-co st-of-everything-else-itis. Maybe aural-decode-algorithm-failure. Either way, something that can effectively pick out what I want to hear, and filter the rest, would probably be a big help.

Music, OTOH, I hear well -- while incapable of reproducing or identifying notes, I definitely hear even minute differences in tone and timing. As such, I vastly prefer music to conversation...

But I digress...I suspect such a device would cause me discomfort. I find sunglasses extremely uncomfortable, even "good" or expensive ones. They all manage to hurt my nose. Wristwatches won't stay in the right position, and cause excessive sweating even when they do. I manage to wear jeans and a t-shirt okay, but my feet get excessively hot in enclosed shoes; I wear sandals almost exclusively (causes some career difficulties). I dread the day that my eyes begin to fail from staring at computer monitors (as well as from genetic inheritance); I will most certainly be getting them repaired surgically, rather than wear glasses or contacts. I don't know what I'll do if/when my hearing starts to go.

Re:The hand is not the optimal holding shape

[ErikSensei]

You mean like http://www.barbapapa.fr/?

Re:The hand is not the optimal holding shape

[anthony_dipierro]

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 deploy new hardware for every new task, you can instead deploy new software (with delivery at the speed of light, something UPS and FedEx can't quite handle).

For all the advances in technology we have, humans still do an awful lot of manual labor. By the very definition of the word, this is stuff that is best done with hands.

A blob-like form consisting of millions of nanobots working together, sometimes loosely, sometimes in a tight lattice, would make much more sense

OK, OK, when the enemy in Terminator 2 gets created, that'll be better than an artificial hand. But that's a long ways off.

Re:The hand is not the optimal holding shape

[MidnightBrewer]

Because if I lose my hand I want it replaced, not improved upon by a nanobot blob. I *like* how my hands work.

Re:The hand is not the optimal holding shape

[bkr1_2k]

Yes there is! Skin changes color constantly, depending upon temperature, sun exposure, health, all kinds of reasons. And it's not one color to begin with, it's a blend of a lot of different shades. Teeth are exposed to the same basic environment all the time. Some minor changes occur, but your teeth don't change color dramatically in short periods of time. It takes years for teeth to actually change color without a helping hand. And then, false teeth are exposed to the same thing and will react the same way, because the acrylics used are similar to the material your teeth are made of. The materials used in hearing aids are nothing remotely like skin.

Re:The hand is not the optimal holding shape

[anthony_dipierro]

I read about something like this once, and there was a specific term for it, but I forget what it is. It seems to me more like a mental issue than a hearing issue, though. I doubt a hearing aid of any sort would solve things. I experience it sometimes and it's basically like my hearing isn't adequetely connected to my comprehension. And yeah, I find myself often asking someone to repeat themselves and then figuring out what they said before they even do repeat it. I basically reloop what they said back through my subvocalisation, and then I understand it.

Re:The hand is not the optimal holding shape

[Doc Ri]

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 reducing the light sampling ability of the whole device). Octopusses are better off.

Natural selection does not strive for perfection. It works by accumulating small changes. Thus, when you start from a given 'design' only a small subset of all possible 'designs' are in reach.

Re:The hand is not the optimal holding shape

[Anonymous Coward]

Your bright buddy!!

Re:The hand is not the optimal holding shape

[autophile]

.. and what about some sense of fashion for hearing aids?

They did that back in the 60's, but nobody bought it.

--Rob

Re:The hand is not the optimal holding shape

[utexaspunk]

I think it's a matter of time before hearing aids become commonplace. Of course, they won't be called hearing aids- they'll be called wireless ear buds.

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 recording conversations all the time.

Re:The hand is not the optimal holding shape

[Anonymous Coward]

I have a hearing aid which color I can best describe as 'dildo flesh tone'. I'd order my next one in electric blue or leopard skin if they had it available. Not really enthusiasic about just taking the one I have and spray painting it to my liking though.

Re:The hand is not the optimal holding shape

[Flying Purple Wombat]

The condition you're referring to is called Auditory Processing Disorder . My nephew suffers badly from this, he's only 7 years old. Needless to say, he has major problems in a traditional classroom. They (teachers, doctors, parents) originally thought he was autistic.

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 sound, it is difficult to understand speech in a noisy environment, or female or children's voices.

I have slight high frequency hearing loss, and often need to ask people to repeat themselves. A hearing aid would help, but I don't have one.

Re:The hand is not the optimal holding shape

[CODiNE]

How about hearing aids for people with good hearing, for use at the cinema or theatre

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 a plexiglass plate that hooks into your cupholders and reflects subtitles being displayed somewhere in the back of the room. The other is that apparently any digital theatre can at will turn on subtitles just like a DVD. You have to request it in advance and obviously they don't want everybody knowing about this since it's likely to annoy a lot of folks when every movie they go to starts having this. Heheh... guess I spilled the beans. Sorry. >:-)

Re:The hand is not the optimal holding shape

[cloudmaster]

Bah, glasses are never looked down upon. Why, I've *never* heard anyone referred to as a nerd just because they were wearing glasses. I've also never seen one of those commercials where the difference between prudish librarian and super-hot party girl is just tied-up hair and glasses.

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

[weemattisnot]

Rather than having "geek-brain-developed-for-technical-stuff-at-the-c ost-of-everything-else-itis", it's more likely that you have some hearing loss. Perhaps in the high treble area. This would make it difficult to distinguish between certain consonants for example 't' and 'c'. Hearing loss in lower frequencies makes discerning between vowels more difficult. Either way, your brain has to work harder than others to decode language.

I have alot of hearing loss (from a combination of loud noises and as the indirect result of a nasty ear infection (that later madated surgery)), and while I love music and feel that I hear it quite well, I'm actually wrong, and I can't hear it well compared to people with good hearing. Also, I often have to do the 'decoding' thing that you mention.

Hearing loss can be conductive (the bones conducting the sound to your cochlea) or can be more-permanent when hairs inside your cochlea (that vibrate at different resonant frequencies to trigger nerves to send the info to your brain) break due to loud or long duration noise.

I've been told (by my surgeon) that they have found an enzyme that actually repairs the hairs inside the cochlea but haven't found a safe way to get the enzyme into the cochlea without further damaging it. My surgeon also mentioned that experimentation of using viruses to carry the enzyme to the cochlea are taking place (if the experiments go wrong though, I'd hate to have a stomach that can hear ;).

Does anyone know about any of the research that's going on in this area? Or have any (informed) forecasts as to when average-joe-semi-deaf-blokes like myself might be able to opt-in for some miraculous hearing-regenative viral infection?

Re:The hand is not the optimal holding shape

[Anonymous Coward]

So are you!

It's "you're," asstard.

Re:The hand is not the optimal holding shape

[thc69]

Thank you. I may have APD. From the wiki:

When APD's have a processing failure, they do not process what is being said to them. They may be able to repeat the words back word for word, but the meaning of the message is lost, and not processed. Simply repeating the instruction is of no use if an APD is not processing. Neither will increasing the volume help.

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 always makes me hear and understand. This makes me think I have slight high frequency hearing loss, like you.

Also from the wiki:

One adult, who has had the disorder since childhood, writes:
"My hearing is fine, but what I hear is often garbled initially by my brain. Shortly later, I often figure it out. In conversation, about the same time I say "huh?", I figure out what it was that I just heard."

Those words could come right out of my mouth. I definitely identify with that.

Re:The hand is not the optimal holding shape

[operagost]

Bad news -- 100% of adults will become farsighted (requiring reading glasses) by their fifties.

Re:The hand is not the optimal holding shape

[operagost]

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 reducing the light sampling ability of the whole device).

He would if his device was organic and had a operational lifespan of up to 120 years. Building the eye the "right" way would prevent damaged cells from being replenished and result in an eventual loss of function.

Octopusses are better off.

An octopus lives only two years. Its eye is perfectly designed for optimum output during a short life span.

Re:The hand is not the optimal holding shape

[Anonymous Coward]

That's presbyopia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presbyopia, not farsightedness (hyperopia), you insensitive clod!

Re:The hand is not the optimal holding shape

[Anonymous Coward]

My daughter was born with one hand. She has adapted physically and there is very little she can not do, and I mean VERY LITTLE. She can jump rope, tie her shoes, ride a bike with gears and handbrakes, type roughly 20 wpm (and probably 40 WPM in teenage chat speak) and probably five 9's percentage of what everone else with two hands can do.
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 artifical hand so they can be normal. I assume those same parents feel guilty and want to "help" the child in any way they can and make things right. I am glad we did not go that route as we let her develop and learn on her own. People can work with what they have and they learn to use what they have. I have serious doubts that a parent with different ideas would listen to that and I doubt many doctors would be willing to tell a parent that they should not use an artifical hand, which gives the parents a better feeling they are doing the right thing what ever that may be.
On the down side, my daughter is now high school age and is not happy with herself mentally with only one hand. That is hard to deal with. Fake hand or not, that would be a problem.

Re:The hand is not the optimal holding shape

[Anonymous Coward]

Odo, is that you ?

Re:The hand is not the optimal holding shape

[visgoth]

Or perhaps like this?

Re:The hand is not the optimal holding shape

[Doc Ri]

Building the eye the "right" way would prevent damaged cells from being replenished and result in an eventual loss of function.

Sounds interesting, could you point me to some resource that explains this in more detail?

He would if his device was organic and had a operational lifespan of up to 120 years.

If natural selection somehow leads to longer lifespans of individuals it is merely an accident. This is not the 'purpose' or 'goal'. There is no purpose. There is no goal. There are frequencies of genes (or, more generally, replicators, whatever the exact defintion might be) and that is it.

But be this is as it may, this was not my main point. The main point is that natural selection is not a mechanism that produces ultimate perfection in finite time. This is due to nature of the process: Gradual accumulation of small changes allows not to leap from one 'design' to another one that is fundamentally different. At least the chance of ending up dead without reproducing is vastly higher than being more successful.

Re:The hand is not the optimal holding shape

[harborpirate]

You have to remember that glasses have existed for well more than a century now. They've become accepted in a culture where they are now commonplace. I think the same will be true of hearing aids eventually, but hopefully in the short term, someone will design a hearing aid that doesn't look like a horrible growth.

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 and easy to take off + put on.

I think a lot more people would use hearing aids if they were better asthetically designed.

Re:The hand is not the optimal holding shape

[Anonymous Coward]

You def have a point with the fact that we've become accustomed to glasses over the past couple hundred years.

Another reason why hearing aid's arent so commonplace, i think (no figures to back it up), there are more people who have vision problems than hearing problems. So if people with vision problems or hearing problems were proportional maybe we'd see more peopel with hearing aids and more people accustomed to the site of people wearing them.

Personally though, i think bluetooh phone headsets will ease people into getting accsutomed to hearing aids. If you look at the current models now, they look like the hearing aid's i remember some kids wearing when i was in elementry school in the mid 80's. The kind that wrapped around the back of your ear with a little tube going into your ear wear another plug was.

I think back then the battery was the issue that lead to the bulk. Much the same with the batteries needed for the bluetooh device and transmitter. maybe in due time, the tech will shrink and we'll have spiffy bluetooh ear buds that look just like hearing aids and that can dub as headphones too.

Add to that some sunglasses to help augment reality with GPS based data and we're on our way to a whole new world of info overload and individual isolation.

yea yea yea, i'll quit my ramblings now.
-VESH

Re:The hand is not the optimal holding shape

[anthony_dipierro]

I probably have this to some extent. In school I usually made up for it by learning the information ahead of time (through reading), and basically when I was listening to the teacher I'd know what they were going to say before they said it.

I found it very interesting to read the second coping skill there: "Do not take notes yourself when information comes from others orally, as this may interfere with your processing strategies..." I deal with this problem all the time at work, when the people who answer the phone are out of the office and I have to answer it. Just today I had to take someone's name and number and it took 3 or 4 tries before I got it down. I'm not really sure what can be done about this, other than just ask people to repeat themselves. I've tried typing in the information as they tell me but that doesn't work either. Maybe I can ask for less information at once. Get the name down first, then the number, and so on. It's also ironic that the fact that I essentially refused to take notes in High School was one of the things that I used to get in trouble for.

"Use closed captioning while watching television." Interesting. I do that sometimes when watching a movie.

The one thing that doesn't really fit though is the article says "APD's have an Auditory (Verbal) Processing Disorder, and text is only verbal code, and so the Auditory Processing Disorder is extended into reading and writing as this auditory code." But I'm *usually* pretty good at reading, much moreso than listening to someone speaking. I do occassionally find myself reading the same sentence 10 or 20 times, but I think that's really more a lack of concentration.

Re:The hand is not the optimal holding shape

[anthony_dipierro]

Oh yeah, I especially liked this one: "A child with APD may be accused of 'not listening'." Heh, or a boyfriend...

Re:The hand is not the optimal holding shape

[Impy the Impiuos Imp]

> They are looking to mimic humans, but I doubt
> human form is the most efficient and adaptable.

Ok, Doc Octopus. Yes, we know a multi-tenticaled thing similar to a cross between the squiddies of The Matrix and the multi-use, multi-arme-sized Engineer of the Moties of the Mote in God's Eye, but the size of the spider from Wild Wild West would be the most vile and destructive thing in the universe, and would make a cross between Hulk, Superman, and the Shrike, with Honor Harrington's brain, look like a 40 year old Raggedy Ann on eBay.

Re:The hand is not the optimal holding shape

[Anonymous Coward]

Speaking of which, the radio talked about a new fad with women bleaching the dark skin around their anal ring.

Kinda sad, if you ask me. I always found that hot in pr0n, not a detraction!

Re:The hand is not the optimal holding shape

[Anonymous Coward]

"If natural selection somehow leads to longer lifespans of individuals it is merely an accident. "

An irrelevant difference. Humans living longer increased the chance of their genes being passed on, ergo things that let them live longer (without decreasing the ability for their genes to be passed on) are more than neutrally likely to be passed on.

It doesn't make a difference if it's described litterally or through metaphor.

Re:The hand is not the optimal holding shape

[Franklinstein]

"I imagine some wireless buds where, by turning the bezel of the watch they come with,"

The problem with any device that is paired with a fashion accessory, such as a watch, is that the paired item inevitably is ugly as hell.

You see, nobody really buys something with a watch attachment because they spend a lot more money on a quality watch and want to wear that one.

Re:The hand is not the optimal holding shape

[Anonymous Coward]

> While I hear amplitude well, I commonly have
> to ask people to repeat themselves -- I've
> heard a bunch of noise come from them, but
> failed to decode it.
>
> ...
>
> Music, OTOH, I hear well -- while incapable of
> reproducing or identifying notes, I definitely
> hear even minute differences in tone and
> timing.
>
> ...
>
>
> even "good" or expensive ones. They all manage
> to hurt my nose. Wristwatches won't stay in
> the right position, and cause excessive
> sweating even when they do. I manage to wear
> jeans and a t-shirt okay, but my feet get
> excessively hot in enclosed shoes;

My mom died this year, my wife weighs 250 pounds, my penis bends to the left.

Re:The hand is not the optimal holding shape

[Anonymous Coward]

> My mom died this year,
> my wife weighs 250 pounds,
> my penis bends to the left.

Frankly, sir, I don't see the problem. No more pestering from your mom, your wife is soft and snuggly and tight, and your penis will hit her G spot if you do it sideways.

Re:The hand is not the optimal holding shape

[hitmark]

bluetooth and a standard for remote volume control maybe?

Just what I'm looking for

[nEoN nOoDlE]

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.

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

[Tatarize]

You know, with todays technology it shouldn't be too hard to build in some "force feedback". You'd be a hit with the ladies as well. Hell it would be a great pickup line.

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.

Re:Just what I'm looking for

[supergiovane]

C'mon, we're on Slashdot. Most of us are little dirty ... you know ... singers, with HDs full of ... uhm ... midi bases.

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 decides to practise a bit before calling his friends.

He says: "Wine". The hand picks a bottle, fills a glass of wine and gently raises it to his mouth.

"Egg". The hand takes an egg from the fridge and cooks it.

The rich man is immpressed. He goes in front of the TV.

"TV". The hand picks up the remote and turns on the TV.

"Zapping". The hand starts zapping at supersonic speed.

At one point, a naked woman appears on the TV.

"Stop". The hand stops zapping.

After some seconds, the rich man tries the magic word.

"Masturbation". The hand warms up and starts doing its job.

At this point, the rich man says "Wow, it's even better than a b***job".
Mimick the act of the hand rising in Japanese robot style, and breaking the neck of the rich man trying to get his mouth near to his d**k.

Re:Just what I'm looking for

[Anonymous Coward]

I do a lot of... you know... karaoke.

Hehe, a microphone that squirts ;-) Just be sure not to use your hand anywhere near Tom Cruise...

Re:Just what I'm looking for

[Anonymous Coward]

At one point, a naked woman appears on the TV.
"Stop". The hand stops zapping.
After some seconds, the rich man tries the magic word.
"Masturbation". The hand warms up and starts doing its job.
At this point, the rich man says "Wow, it's even better than a b***job".

Personnally, I liked the "now jerk it off" punchline better.

Re:Just what I'm looking for

[BorgHunter]

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.

If you had a vibrating hand, somehow I think a backrub would be one of the last things on her mind...

Re:Just what I'm looking for

[Anonymous Coward]

A backrub? Is that the best you can think of?

You must be a virgin...

Re:Just what I'm looking for

[Tatarize]

I thought it was nudge-nudge-wink-winky enough.

Backrub is code. I have a reputation to uphold. Wait, no I don't. You see you place the vibrating hand in...

Re:Just what I'm looking for

[Tatarize]

Nah. You know when you're feeling a woman's breasts and they feel like bags of sand... That is so hot.

Re:Just what I'm looking for

[Savage650]

Your hand suddenly starts vibrating at a few thousand rpm. Don't even have to say a word

well, maybe a bit of empathy afterwards:

Robot: Earth women who experience sexual ecstasy with mechanical assistance always tend to feel guilty!

Re:Just what I'm looking for

[brakk]

You see you place the vibrating hand in...

The whole hand? I've seen videos, but come on.

Re:Just what I'm looking for

[Anonymous Coward]

the way I heard it, he goes to the gents for a slash and after, says 'robot hand - shake.'
Liking it, he says "faster faster!"
then "Pull me off!"
*rip*
Aargh! F*ck me dead!

The best part is..

[FunWithKnives]

For all of us geeks, now it really won't feel like your own hand!

And what about the other "power" grip?

[Anonymous Coward]

Does it feel like it's not really a robot when it's the left droid hand?

Oh c'mon

[zephc]

"'With this hand you can clutch objects such as a ball, [...] and you can wrap your fingers around an object in what we call the power grip"

Oh c'mon You're making the jokes too easy for us!

Re:Oh c'mon

[mattjb0010]

Oh c'mon You're making the jokes too easy for us!

You have to hand it to the submitter ;P

Re:Oh c'mon

[iamdrscience]

Clever artificial hand leads to unclever jokes. Interesting.

Re:Oh c'mon

[Anonymous Coward]

Read this for inspiration, and then replace any words in the summary relating to hands or fingers with wang:

"The BBC is reporting that scientists have developed an ultra-light wang that they claim can mimic the movement in a real wang better than any currently available. Researcher Dr Paul Chappell, a medical physicist who worked on the device, said, 'With this wang you can clutch objects such as a ball, you can move the wang out to one side and grip objects with the wang in the way you do when opening a lock with a key, and you can wrap your wang around an object in what we call the power grip - like the one you use when you hold a hammer or a microphone.'"

It doesn't work as well as Harry Potter but it's still chuckle-worthy.

Re:Oh c'mon

[TerranFury]

She invited me over so I made that little trip
And then she pulled out my mushroom tip
Goin' over it just went drip, drip, drip
I didn't know she had the GI Joe Kung Fu Grip

- Sublime, "Caress me down."

Re:Oh c'mon

[SirLantos]

He really has a grip on this subject.

Most obvious example forgotten

[Anonymous Coward]

"like the one you use when you hold a hammer or a microphone." ... Or something else.

in my family...

[Catcher80]

...we'll use it to grip our beer better and flip each other off more realistically!

Could realdoll use this?

[Anonymous Coward]

Sounds like the next improvement for the sex dolls you can buy at realdoll.com, now with kung fu grip!

Claims Too Strong!

[DrInequality]

This prosthetic hand may be able to mimic the human hand better than any currently available prosthetic hand.

There are plenty of robot hands that are far better than this. e.g. #1 e.g. #2.

Re:Claims Too Strong!

[Anonymous Coward]

This newly designed hand is only 400g unlike the two that you linked to which are 3.5kg and 1.15kg!! I know which one I would choose. I reckon I would look pretty funny walking with a lean and my wiz bang prosthetic knuckles dragging along the ground getting gravel rash :)

Re:Claims Too Strong!

[Anonymous Coward]

This newly designed hand is only 400g unlike the two that you linked to which are 3.5kg and 1.15kg!! I know which one I would choose. I reckon I would look pretty funny walking with a lean and my wiz bang prosthetic knuckles dragging along the ground getting gravel rash :)

You could wear a glove with wheels on it. :-)

And if anyone makes fun of you for looking funny, you can just bash them with your big, nasty 3.5 kg cyber-hand! :-)

a BIG improvement

[romit_icarus]

Hey now i can surf through internet porn while typing with *both* hands!!

sorry, couldnt resist that one... ;)

Very Promising Future of Prosthetics...

[Nerd Systems]

This hand looks very promising... am sure that it will make many amputees happy as it can more closely resemble the human hand... just curious how much longer till the entire human hand can be duplicated totally... much less other body parts...

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...

[jbrader]

I was actually wondering about playing the guitar. It doesn't look like it's nearly up to the task of being the fretting hand but maybe you could strum with it.

Re:Very Promising Future of Prosthetics...

[SimilarityEngine]

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...

[khellendros1984]

ummm....your hands are controlled by muscles in the upper arm...they probably use some different muscle groups, though. i'll give you that.

How does the user control it?

[Vorondil28]

But the University of Southampton team has designed a prototype that uses six sets of motors and gears so each of the five fingers can move independently.

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?

[rkww]

RTFA: The new hand - called the Southampton Remedi-Hand - can be connected to muscles in the arm via a small processing unit and is controlled by small contractions of the muscles which move the wrist.

Re:How does the user control it?

[Vorondil28]

Pfft. Since when did we have to start reading the articles around here!

^_~
My bad, I missed it.

Re:How does the user control it?

[guruevi]

How do you think you move YOUR fingers?

Re:How does the user control it?

[Anonymous Coward]

I don't have fingers you insensitive clod.

the biggest challenge...

[ErichTheWebGuy]

The biggest challenge of said "hand" will be the adaptation/grafting onto the human body. It will be difficult to train patients to use the new hand, since it has so many possible individual movements. Maybe a wearable device could mitigate that factor,...

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...

[ramblin billy]

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...

[DickBreath]

The biggest challenge of said "hand" will be the adaptation/grafting onto the human body. It will be difficult to train patients to use the new hand, since it has so many possible individual movements.

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 movements thing, could the hand have a built in vibrating action that saves work on the patient's wrist and/or elbow?

Re:the biggest challenge...

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, especially with all the people cutting off their hands to be eligible to wear one.

HOW MUCH WOULD YOU PAY FOR A HAND?!?!?!

$1000 ?

$10 000 ?

$50 000 ?

More ?

Cost is not an issue. The use of a hand is worth several times more than the cost of some motors and some carbon fiber chunks, and whatever medical procedures you need to attach and learn to use it.

Re:the biggest challenge...

[Anonymous Coward]

how much can you afford for a hand? How much can most other people afford for a hand? Get a clue, moron, not everything comes easily to people who live in the real world and have to work for things!

Oh come on

[iamdrscience]

Isn't this old news? Luke had one of these by the end of Empire and that came out in 1980!

Furthermore, the events depicted in star wars happened "A long time ago" so they must be even older than that.

Re:Oh come on

[Anonymous Coward]

Ok Eric Forman ..... go back to sleep now!!!

Easily Done

[Anonymous Coward]

...what if you made a whole new imaginary limb...

And done, anything else you care to have imagined.

I call prior art prior art.

[Anonymous Coward]

The Addam's family, er, obviously invented the ultimate "artificial limb" years ago.......

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thing_(Addams_Family)

Sure, that's an advanced thumb...

[Shoggoth of Maul]

...but until it can handle a Poison Bite 105/ 401 Recitiation of Sins/ 402 Verdict/ Fire Ball, I think we've still got a long way to go.

Feh! Better Grow A New One!

[Maavin]

Even mice can do it!

haxx

[erroneous]

If it plays Counter-Strike better than me I'm claiming haxx.

the real thing like coke

[j3rryh]

Why go plastic when you could just go with this: http://biomed.brown.edu/Courses/BI108/BI108_2003_G roups/Hand_Transplantation/default.html

Oh how lazy can you be?

[Anonymous Coward]

Too lazy to get out to hook up with girls, rather wack off watching pron, now not even doing own wacking? For shame, for shame..

opposable thumb

[layer3switch]

The wonder never seizes to amaze me...

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 then (and I said "IF"), won't it be more "clever"-er to have prosthetic controlled by nerve?

For example, MES Robotics has pretty nice pictures of future projects regarding similar concept.
http://heim.ifi.uio.no/~matsh/591188/
(oh and yes, the arm does look like something out of Terminator 2 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103064/)

Chapelle?

[natrius]

What did the clever artificial hand say to the face?

SLAP!

Re:Chapelle?

[Anonymous Coward]

Now even after a debilitating accident, Wayne Brady can still choke a bitch.

Call Kevin!

[Beekhuis]

This should thrill Mister http://www.kevinwarwick.com/

Re:Call Kevin!

[easychord]

It will take him to develop the full power of it. Sure, they think they are clever making actual working robots that help people, but it doen't mean anything until it can be used to transmit your thoughts to aliens.

Re:Call Kevin!

[callipygian-showsyst]

I went to that page and saw this:

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

[Timberwolf0122]

Building a prosthetic limb is the easy bit in a way, the realy hard work is allowing the user to controll it in a natural way by nerv induction aswell as relay the touch feeling and providing the arm with enough power to last the day.

Ultimately replacement limbs should be better that the originals and this is a fantastic step in the right direction.

Brace yourself

[BlastM]

Prepare for robot masturbation jokes in 5, 4, 3...

The doctors gave him drugs to help his body accept

[SensitiveMale]

it, but his cock rejected it.

Re:Obligatory /. quips?

[Anonymous Coward]

You are so post-modern. May I worship you?

Prosthetic hand...

[shakeedoo]

Now With Kung Fu Grip!

the power grip

[gomel]

'The power grip will be mostly used to crush human sculls.' Dr Paul Chappell added.

Combine your love for karaoke

[jurt1235]

Maybe you should combine your love for karaoke with the Japanese female bot ( http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/07/ 28/0613233&tid=216&tid=99) post from several weeks ago, then you can do a duet...

Re:Combine your love for karaoke

[swiggidy]

From that article (emphasis mine):
"Repliee Q1Expo can interact with people. It can respond to people touching it. It's very satisfying, although we obviously have a long way to go yet."

Looks like they don't have much farther to go now

Easy!

[Anonymous Coward]

Why, with the other hand of course!

How About An Iarm?

[bait4719]

http://www.iarm.de/movie_high.html

As much as I love this kind of technology...

[Digital Pizza]

I'm really hoping that tissue regeneration will take its place.

Long way to go

[EngLee]

There's still a very long way to make it a perfect one. I'm not sure whether I can live long enough to see that happen..

Re:Long way to go

[vertinox]

I'm thinking well have full prosthetic bodies by 2030's. Honda wants to have a robotic team to be able to beat a human team by 2050. I'll be in my 70's by then so I'd like to think of myself being around.

But Really...

[gabba_gabba_hey]

Mmmmmm, Healthy Beans....

Clever Artificial Hand?

[Anonymous Coward]

Sounds like a Realdoll for Slashdotters!

*ducks*

Lightsaber

[Michael.Forman]

"With this hand you can clutch objects such as a ball, ..."

... hold a lightsaber, and clutch the air, palm upwards, as you tell someone you're their father.

Michael.

Keep marketing out of it

[scdeimos]

From TFA:

Scientists have developed an ultra-light limb that they claim can mimic the movement in a real hand better than any currently available.

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 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 things these guys have got going for them is that theirs is powered electrically (Shadow's is pneumatic) and they have a bio-interface to trigger their electronics from muscle contractions.

Re:Keep marketing out of it

[Anonymous Coward]

I wouldn't say that "electric" is necessarily better than "pneumatic." The pneumatic muscles that the Shadow hand uses are passively compliant -like our own muscles. With electric motor you have to rely on sensory feedback in order to simulate compliance and compensate for the inertia of the gearbox. Such an active system can never have as good an impulse response as a passive one.

All that said, electrically driven systems are nice because they just need batteries and are probably quieter than pneumatics (one of the main reasons people have shunned pneumatic muscles in the prosthetics field is because patients are so self-conscious). I don't think that Shadow really markets their hand for prosthetics, though.

It;s not the hand...

[Sooner Boomer]

It's not the hand, or motor/servo, or interface that needs improving, it's the Power Source ! Without long-lasting (much better than iPod!) batteries, this technology will go nowhere. I did research in prosthetics back in '75 and won quite a few awards and acclaim for the work, but had the same problem. One solution that was presented back then, but not much work has been done on it since, is a blood-powered fuel cell. It is implanted in the body and derives power from sugar and oxygen. Next best thing would be a pee-powered battery (grin).

Re:It;s not the hand...

[ahaning]

Would that much energy be lost in converting energy from human muscle to electricity that it would be impractical?

If someone just lost their hand, they still have arm muscles. Surely these muscles could be used to produce energy to power an electric hand. With enough use, I'd think the arm muscles would get strong enough that the strength of the artificial hand could match or even surpass that of the person's original hand.

(Disclaimer: I have not read the article.)

Re:It;s not the hand...

[iggymanz]

I heard they will put in a mechanism similar to that of self-winding watches; the user will need to wank off every 3 hours to keep tension in the mainspring.

Oh no!

[Anonymous Coward]

It's the Terminator!!! Must be time for Skynet to pop up...

when it can ....

[Anonymous Coward]

when it can masturbate for me I will be impressed.


The power grip, but with a delicate touch.

heh

[Danzigism]

but does it feel,,,,,,compassion?????

Hasn't something better been done

[Kent Simon]

wasn't something better done around 1991

But does it do the job?

[Anonymous Coward]

Oh, you mean, it's a right hand? Too bad :-(

You must have missed this story:

[RoverDaddy]

Hearing Aids for the Unimpaired http://www.wired.com/news/medtech/0,1286,68419,00. html

Hearing aid stigma

[RoverDaddy]

I agree with you that hearing aids no longer raise eyebrows. Thankfully, most people are beyond that, and perhaps the 'graying of America' will also have an influence. However, I suspect that people whose hearing loss is combined with speech impediments (it's hard to learn how to speak without the feedback most of us take for granted) still face stigma and discrimination.

Re:Hearing aid stigma

[Afrosheen]

You're right about Americans being desensitized to hearing aids. The weird part about that is the fact that World War II was the impetus. For milennia people have had hearing problems from birth or as they age but usually not en masse.

  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 grandfather was a Marine and fired off 120mm antiaircraft cannons. Back then I guess nobody thought about ear protection, so he came back about half deaf. He and his fellow Marines have had hearing aids for as long as I can remember. To me, it was a one-day curiousity, and I just have to speak up when I talk to him.

  The point is that when something once unusual becomes commonplace, acceptance is nearly automatic.

Wow, I was just wondering about this...

[anthony_dipierro]

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 that computers aren't (yet) good at - classifying, reconciling, identifying red flags, etc.

It's kind of amazing that we've got people progressing in artificial intellegence and yet the average home/office computer can't even do the simplest of tasks that any 5 year old can do. I tease one of my coworkers all the time about the fact that the computer tells him to change the backup tape. Computers should be working for us, not the other way around.

Shadow's hand *not* for people to wear

[RealisticCanadian]

You really need to pay some attention before spewing forth about other developments.

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. :^)

What did the five fingers on the artificial hand..

[Banishedwun]

What did the five fingers on the artificial hand say to the face? SLAP!

Clever?

[beluv]

The article's own title is wrong. Towards the end of the article they say they haven't developed the clever part yet.

I wonder how its controlled?

[Anonymous Coward]

PalmOS?

GI Joe suing for Patent infringement?

[Anonymous Coward]

Sources close to Joe state that his lawyers believe their claim of prior-art with the "Kung Fu" grip will hold up in court since it was around long before the "power grip" was invented.

Groovy

[jimboisbored]

Did anyone else think of the part in Army of Darkness with the mechanical hand when he smashes the goblet?

the power grip...

[Anonymous Coward]

"...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.'"

or my Johnson! Woo HOO!!!!

Are they leaving it to our imagination?

[callipygian-showsyst]

Researcher Dr Paul Chappell, a medical physicist who worked on the device, said: "With this hand you can clutch objects such as a ball, [...] the power grip - like the one you use when you hold a hammer or a microphone."

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!

Not to piss on your idea but...

[tgd]

Actually I have nothing else to add, but wanted to work piss into the discussion.

From the can of beans it's holding.....

[rubberbando]

it makes me assume it's gas-powered. :-P

so who would win

[Captain Truffle Pig]

out of this new hand and the thing in a thumb war?

And the cost . . .

[fl_litig8r]

6 million dollars. Artificial legs and eye are on the way.

Did he really invent this thing?

[txmadman]

Or was it in fact given to him by the LAPD investigator who stumbled upon it in a downtown manufacturing facility, after having been called in by the fire department to look into a report of a homicide and vandalism after a tanker truck had exploded nearby?

And isn't Dr. Chappelle in fact the owner of a start-up firm called Cyberdyne Systems, Inc.? And don't they now have several secret patents for (speculated) military hardware and IT applications?

What do you mean, "No not really"?

that's not really a clever hand

[tinkerton]

a really smart hand would figure out that when it hands you a finger, you'll end up grabbing the whole arm . Therefore, when you ask it to give you a hand, it gives you the finger.

hm, I feel a theme building here...

Already been done.

[Anonymous Coward]

Man, they already made one of those a long, long time ago.

Granted, it was in a galaxy far, far away.

I'll take two. -Barney Hiller

[GreenSwirl]

...AKA Barney Miller, the former race car driver (not the cop.) "It's wild, Steve! It's wild!"

Re:I'll take two. -Barney Hiller

[operagost]

Is that the guy whose hands were burnt so badly that they could only shape them into a permanent driving position?

How about this?

[Anonymous Coward]

Power Backback
http://hardware.slashdot.org/hardware/05/09/09/062 2248.shtml
Why are you hopping?
I power my artifical hand!

Scale it UP!

[mattr]

Okay, if one hand is 400 grams, then two hands, scaled to backhoe size (say 10 times per dimension) would be 800 * 1000 g = an 800 kg pair. It is pretty cool to watch those one-fingered claws tearing homes apart, how about hands (with teleoperation)?

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?

backrub ???

[Brigadier]

several thousand rpm's and the best you can come up with is a back rub ?!?!?!? hello !!! McFly !!!

Heavy Metal?

[TheTranceFan]

There was a scene in an old animated movie called Heavy Metal (1981) (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082509/) that is almost exactly as you describe (except it's a robot, not human with a prosthetic).

I think the robot was asked whether he's sexually capable. He raises his hand, finger extended, and it whirls around at high speed. He says, "Fully functional", as I recall.

Clever Artificial Hand Developed

[_DangerousDwarf]

Right.....cause no one wants a stupid artificial hand to be attached.

Well actually, it might make for some interesting parties!

Some Guy: Hey, my name's Billy-Bob, put'er there partner!
You: Whoa, careful there, that's my dumb hand.

:D

What about a 80lb backpack?

[WillyMF1]

http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/09/ 09/0622248&tid=232&tid=184

The inventors announcement

[Lucretius]

Upon donning the device, the inventor tried it out by crushing a can and proclaimed it "Groovy"

But can it cock a gun?

[adrianbaugh]

Till then, it won't sell well to the good ol' boys :-)

(laugh. it's funny)

Re:But can it cock a gun?

[iggymanz]

no, but it can sure gun your cock

One clever artifical hand...

[teknopagan]

...ought to be enough for anybody.

Just don't let a cat get hold of one of these

[Anonymous Coward]

All I know is that if my cat had one, the refrigerator would be opened all the time, and she'd probably start stealing money out of my wallet for sushi. You guys scientist think any advancement is a good one, but just wait until you have to serve under the legions of cats.

Attn: Lan Sierran?

[way2trivial]

Are you sill dreaming about your three armed boy?

Large Market

[dingleberrie]

Word has it that Saudi Arabia just placed a large order for these things. Even the convicted thieves are rich.

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[webhead74]

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