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

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: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.