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DARPA's Artificial Arm Comes With VR Training

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the right-to-bare-arms dept.

An anonymous reader writes "The first prototype of an artificial limb commissioned by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency can reportedly be controlled naturally, provide sensory feedback and allows for eight degrees of freedom — way beyond the current state of the art for prosthetic limbs. Oh yeah, it also has its own VR environment to learn how to use it."

2 of 71 comments (clear)

  1. Nothing New: by horli · · Score: 2, Informative

    http://www.ottobock.com/cps/rde/xchg/SID-3F574DD1- 4F9E32A8/ob_com_en/hs.xsl/384.html The biggest *practical* problem is not sensoring or the number of degrees but battery lifetime vs. size and weight. Otto Bock hands are outstanding in energy efficiency and miniaturization. The dominate the market with outstanding technology for over 30 years. (nerve sensors to direct the hand were invented 30 years ago by them; 'MyoBock') They incorporate the world smallest automatic gearbox (patented). http://www.google.at/patents?id=oAUiAAAAEBAJ&dq=ed uard+horvath http://www.google.at/patents?id=0dAmAAAAEBAJ&dq=ed uard+horvath http://www.google.at/patents?id=nHsPAAAAEBAJ&dq=ed uard+horvath http://www.google.at/patents?id=SDc3AAAAEBAJ&dq=ed uard+horvath

  2. DEKA by Mazin07 · · Score: 2, Informative

    Dean Kamen (who also brought us the Segway) was showing this off in Atlanta. Currently, it's like a remote. One guy wears a sensory "exo-arm" whose movements are copied by the robotic arm. It's kind of laggy and there's no sensory feedback, but allows for some pretty precise and complex movements.

    What they haven't done yet is allow a person who is missing an arm to actually control it. That's the hard part. Dean just did the mechanics of it.