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Bluetooth Prosthetics Help US Marine To Walk Again
Like2Byte writes "CNN is reporting that a US Marine who lost both his legs in Iraq is now able to walk again by using bluetooth technology to coordinate his leg movement. The two legs communicate to keep the man in motion. ' [...] Computer chips in each leg send signals to motors in the artificial joints so the knees and ankles move in a coordinated fashion. Bleill's set of prosthetics [legs] have Bluetooth receivers strapped to the ankle area. The Bluetooth device on each leg tells the other leg what it's doing, how it's moving, whether walking, standing or climbing steps, for example.'"
Will he reflex-kick me in the head?
Just disrupt the deflector shield with a tachyon burst.
Another fine gentalman that they will not allow to partisipate in the olympics.
Im a gamer, not a grammer major. This post is full of spelling and grammer mistakes.
I hope they don't fall down when they walk past a microwave oven. I know my bt headset drops info while talking around my microwave. I hope the final devices are a bit more robust.
Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see. - Mark Twain
Maybe. All I know is that when he heats up his lunch in the microwave he starts dancing.
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From wikipedia,
"In November 2003, Ben and Adam Laurie from A.L. Digital Ltd. discovered that serious flaws in Bluetooth security may lead to disclosure of personal data."
Of course!
How long do you suppose its going to take someone in a coffee shop to find that bluetooth connection and start sending signals to it?
This is my sig. There are many like it but this one is mine.
Just imagine - no need for cellphone shoot-em-up games when you can use this direction stick on the keyboard to control a real Marine with Bluetooth!
This is Slashdot. Common sense is futile. You will be modded down.
The last thing most of us need is one more damn thing that you need to keep charged.
Hello, AAA? Yeah, I'm in the supermarket parking lot and I need a jump-start...
Sean
I don't have bluetooth limbs and yet get the impulse to kick people who use bluetooth headsets in the head....
Monstar L
A handsome young Cyborg named Ace,
Wooed women at every base,
But once ladies glanced at
His special enhancement
They vanished with nary a trace.
Barracks Graffiti
Sparta Command
"I only speak the truth"
Karma: null(Mostly affected by an unassigned variable)
Surely a simple thin wire run from the knee to belt to other knee would have worked just as well.
I can't think Bluetooth really added much to the basic functionality.
I'd only wear a bluetooth headset if it came with a "Locutus Laser".
Just disrupt the deflector shield with a tachyon burst.
I think it's great that they've improved the functionality of these prostheses, but I find it rather dumb that the batteries that power them are not user replaceable. They've added some "whiz bang" at the cost of what would be now considered a standard functional issue of any consumer electronics device. I know someone with a prosthetic arm, which has replaceable Li-Ion packs, why would having removeable batteries be any different in this case? Then again, maybe I am incorrectly interpreting "no spare batteries available" as not user replaceable, instead of the design of these batteries are two-of-a-kind and no additional ones have been manufactured at this point.
(Apologies for the puns in the title.)
I wouldn't be going to any black hat conventions if I was him.
So... can we expect Nintendo to make a Wii soccer game for him?
Must've been taking design cues from the packaging engineers that work at Apple. You can't replace the battery in their iPod or iPhone, either.
Every time I step near a busy road with my BT headphones, I start losing connectivity because the bt band is overloaded.
How will this guy cross the road? on his hands?
-
What a weird use for wireless communication - why wouldn't a wire do a better cheaper job?
It's a strange feeling, seeing these cyberpunk-ish prosthetics proliferate. The future is coming, through the back door, with a limp. But it's still coming.
How fast can he run? Faster than a woman? (OK, for those who don't get the reference, it's from Bobby Bitman's movie "Chariot of Eggs".)
What was once true, is no longer so
If these have a sensor inside that could detect falling over (which they must), you could have it set up to deliver an emergency "I've fallen and I can't get up" type message to a pc. A la new onstar vehicles. Maybe heart rate/blood pressure monitors as well. Could increase independence.
Bury me in mashed potatoes.
Enjoy your new "restless leg" syndrome!
Chas - The one, the only.
THANK GOD!!!
Bluetooth in each leg? Wicked! Now if I could only do something about the Blueballs between my legs, we'd be all set!
...people who use bluetooth headsets in the head....
Yeah, I get creeped out when I hear people talking to themselves in the john, too.
This guy's the limit!
*walk* *walk* *walk*
"Brain -> Legs: Bluetooth connection lost. Re-pairing"
*trip*
Vincent J. Murphy
Spandex Justice
The future is coming, through the back door...
Only if this catches on with Real Doll.
Well, that's certainly cool.
On the other hand, what about all the Iraqis that got wounded, lost limbs or even died? Nobody seems to care about those, despite the fact that they outnumber affected US soldiers by a factor that ranges in the hundreds (!), and despite the fact that the soldiers at least *chose* to enter the army (not that that means they deserve less medical care, but I have more sympathy for those who were not given a choice to begin with).
But of course, nobody cares about those, right? They're all just terrorists, anyway. When a US soldier loses a limb, we'll do anything in our power to restore it, no matter what the cost, but if an Iraqi gets killed, we don't even pay anything to his family, since that might encourage others to let themselves get killed for their family's financial benefit, too.
Right.
I, for one, can understand why we weren't greeted as liberators.
Sorry officer, but every time you zap me with your radar gun, my leg floors the gas pedal..
Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see. - Mark Twain
If science fiction/fantasy has taught me anything, it's that cybernetic marines are AWESOME! Especially if there are any space demons nearby that need killing.
We need this technology where I work - the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing.
You can't talk about Wikipedia's flaws on Wikipedia
I, for one, welcome our new cybernetic overl...
Hey wait a minute, I'm a cyborg! Never mind.
mcgrew's razor: Never attribute to stupidity that which can be explained by greedy self-interest
"teething pains"...
Previously: "Linux... Toward the Sunrise..." Now: "Linux... Toward the-- No, now, part of Every Sunrise"
That's why I'm waiting to get my other eye operated on (see sig). I want one that shoots laser beams!
Yes, I'm a cyborg. Resistance is fulile and you will all be (yawn) assimilated.
mcgrew's razor: Never attribute to stupidity that which can be explained by greedy self-interest
Lance Corporal Joshua Bleill, please report to the OCP building for your Detroit patroll briefing.
"He Who Dares Wins"
The only downside is when his new legs are burning, it's because they used sony batteries.
Hopefully, these aren't the exploding batteries... It could cost you another arm and a leg...
And, even if it didn't blow up, it could be shocking or quite emotionally discharging to see one of your limbs smoking.
Previously: "Linux... Toward the Sunrise..." Now: "Linux... Toward the-- No, now, part of Every Sunrise"
'til someone hacks into his legs. W-w-w-why am I walking off this cliiiiiiiiiffffff....
Vital papers will demonstrate their vitality by moving to where you can't find them.
He was given the legs so we can finally be rid of Chuck Norris.
Once the OSI has accomplished that goal, they will turn the legs off.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
Newsreel announcer: We have the ships. We have the weapons. We need soldiers. Soldiers like Lieutenant Stack Lumbreiser... ...and Captain Carmen Ibanez.
Lt. Lumbreiser: Over the target area now, Captain.
Newsreel announcer:
Carmen: This is the captain speaking. All personnel prepare for drop.
Newsreel announcer: Soldiers like Private Ace Levy and Lieutenant John Rico.
Johnny Rico: Come on you apes, you wanna live forever?
Newsreel announcer: We need you all. Service guarantees citizenship.
Let this be a lesson to all of you who don't believe Monty Python was ahead of their time. The Ministry of Silly Walks foretold of this occasion ages ago!
They're Atomic powered, d'uh. Don't you know anything about bionic men?
hmm "The Bionic Men" sounds like a great name for a futuristic fascist military.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
...just got a lot more interesting.
There's no failure quite as dissatisfying as a complete and total solution to the wrong problem.
I wonder how secure the wireless connection is. Could be good for some mean-spirited fun.
The technology — both in engineering as well as in management and other "humanities" — is our strength against the fanatics, who derive their considerable strength from their firm beliefs.
This is why we have a chance to prevail, where Soviet Union failed, for example, for they had neither beliefs nor the technology...
In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
If his legs get bluejacked does this make him the worlds first remote controlled human?
Alph, the sacred river, ran
Through caverns measureless to man
I was going to just say 10 miles, but that may have been little to esoteric for people to get, even with your sig.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
I find it rather dumb that the batteries that power them are not user replaceable. They've added some "whiz bang" at the cost of what would be now considered a standard functional issue of any consumer electronics device.
/ducks
Why, were these legs made by Apple?
Actually, the article didn't say that the batteries are not user replaceable, just that spare batteries are not available.
The chips send signals to the artificial joints via bluetooth?
To FORWARD WALK, press 1.
To FORWARD RUN, press 2.
To BACKWARD WALK, press 3.
To BACKWARD RUN, press 4.
To KICK LEFT, press 5.
To KICK RIGHT, press 6.
To move SIDEWAYS LEFT, press 7
To move SIDEWAYS RIGHT, press 8
If you have fallen and can't get up, press 9. An Operator will be with you shortly. Please hold, your call is important to us. Calls will be answered in the order they are recieved. (plays "Runnin' With The Devil" as hold music).
If controls fail to respond, press CTRL+ALT+DEL.
Knowing Google's lust for data collection, the Soviet Union is still alive and well inside the psyche of Sergey Brin....
Can we please stop using that tag on [i]every[/i] new technology? When did /. get choked with Luddites?
I wonder if this technology can be mutated such that it can give people with spinal cord injuries similar locomotion. Mutated in such a way not to require amputation, of course. Interesting.
Hi, I Boris. Hear fix bear, yes?
Shiver me timbers! I betcha Captain Bluetooth will be wantin' one of these to replace his peg leg!
Yomigaeru Aiyan Geek!!!
STOP.
I don't think the average American has a freaking clue how many Vets there are walking around(or not) that have been disabled or horribly maimed due that God forsaken war. If they did it wouldn't be 60-70% that want the war to end, it would be more like 99.99%. Politicians would stop clamoring about how tough they are with regards to "The war on terrorism" and they'd be falling over themselves to get our troops home. But no, those FUCKERS would rather talk about the terrible prospect of "losing". We already lost, bring our Troops home.
The future is coming, through the back door... Only if this catches on with Real Doll.
GENIOUS!"The irony when tending a flock of sheep is the dogs you put in place to protect them are genetically mutated wolves"
if his legs will make the "disconnect" sound when he sits down?
Favorite quote from Innerspace:
"Play with it, pal, but don't talk to it."
We're all hypocrites. We all have hidden parts, it's the contrast between them that make us more a hypocrite than others
Can he get some hacked firmware to make himself DDR world champ?
I'm fighting The War on Drugs!
Shit, alex murphy would be so unpleased.
Marine: Yeah, the legs are miracles of science. They follow eachother and let me walk like I never thought possible Reporter: Wait wait waitwaitwait wait a minute. This uses BLUETOOTH?!
It's the wrong trousers, and they've gone wrong! Help!
Will it help him kill again? D:
Ginga no Rekshiya Mata Each page.
Hope the security on these are good, otherwise...
Grommit!! Help!! It's the WRONG PANTS!!!
If it does run on Linux, I'd take a beowulf cluster of it!
There, three buzzwords in the same article. I wonder when they'll bluetooth my ass.
Are you kidding? You know damn well adding a replaceable battery would make the legs at least 5mm thicker! They had to balance many competing design goals and I'm confident they made the right decision.
In Repressive Burma, it's not just your connection that dies. slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=314547&cid=20819199
This is yet another stupid Slashdot article. The means of communication is completely arbitrary. What is important is what is being communicated. When it comes to HOW it is being communicated, there are so many standards for this....Zigbee for instance.
I do know that there's a proposed standard for Bluetooth specifically for medical devices--there are some pacemakers and ICDs out there (most of 'em these days, I understand) that have bluetooth built into 'em so that the doctors can read information off of 'em without having to place electrodes and whatnot--and also so that they can patch the firmware, if necessary.
There's still the question of what happens if somebody fuzzes their Bluetooth stack. And what happens if the pacemaker is in a high-profile government official, and the directional antenna is hidden in a TV camera. Or something like that.
How secure are their firmware update routines? Is anybody checking?
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
I will say, though, that it's encouraging as a general trend to see consumer-level technologies like this being used as plug-in components to cutting-edge research projects (like Johnny Lee's Wiimote awesomeness, for example). But hell... wake me up when I can build my own artificial legs from commodity hardware.
Yeah, these high-tech solutions are always kind of weird. If there was only some simple way in which so many strong, young Americans would not end up with missing limbs in the first place...
Well, we can all dream, can't we?
Actually...um..yeah. You hit the nail on the head. I have been thinking that for the last four days since I had lost the charger to my leg. The damn thing is in safety mode making it a pain in the ass to walk. *Sigh* It makes me miss my old non-robo leg that used plan old hydrolics instead of the DYNAMIC hydrolics of this one. If I look around I should be able to find the cigarette-car-lighter plug in. But unfortunately I haven't seen it in a year.
I find it a bit funky how my doctor did the initial setup of my knee using bluetooth. I would like to try hacking it someday, but I would need to get some password breaking software together. I hope to figure out how I can attach a speaker to it so it makes cool robotic sounds when I walk. Or maybe have it say random pre-recorded comments like, "hey baby!" Another cool idea is make it do a symbol/bass drum tap as I walk. Then have it speed up/slow down the tempo with my gate. Oh the possibilities!!!!!
Once you start despising the jerks, you become one.
All the algorithms, mechanical engineering, electronics, and software was frosting. What really made it happen was the 802.15.1 standard. It would never have worked if it was 802.11 or 802.15.4.
Let's sterilize him with unnecessary microwave RF, and use more batteries just so there won't be a couple wires!
from 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
to 45 2F 6E 40 3C DF 10 71 4E 41 DF AA 25 7D 31 3F
This is great, whats losing a few legs, get these boys back into battle!
Horns are really just a broken halo.
HAHAHA, try working in the NRB of Verizon Wireless. You more often hear BEEPs coming from the next stall while someone is texting or cruising the news, then *PPPPPPPTTT* they let one rip...oh yeah, all good
"That's right...I said it."
A way to let legless people walk again is invented and all Slashdotters can think of is lame bluetooth jokes?? I don't even know why I still come here.
This sounds like the perfect setup for a Wallace and Gromit "The Wrong Trousers" type situation. Last I heard, Bluetooth wasn't exactly known for its security. (Hence all the proprietary "wireless" devices with their own specific dongles.) Not really something you want in control of your body.
God forbid the day comes when Tux decides a rubber glove makes a nice substitute for a red hat.
8==8 Bones 8==8
In my state it is illegal to use the phone while driving... The wired ones get tangled easily. What is the issue... After I leave the car I turn it off and put it in my pocket. Then if I have a call for normal use I use the head set. What is your issue?
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
Sometimes people make things too bloody complicated. Yeah, it's tough the guy lost his legs. No replacement will ever be the same. But do multi-million dollar legs (with all sorts of support problems, like that stupid battery problem) really seem appropriate?
.. and I suppose development in this area would be good. But I think this needs to stay more solidly in the "We're just experimenting here, folks; don't get your hopes up!" category.
He may just be a testbed, sure
(Yeah, I'm a vet, and yeah, I know all numbers of crippled guys: arms, legs, the works. Luckily I still have all of mine.)
The biggest boon to the neuroscience had been WWII. So many people who survived brain damage were available to be researched that a major leap was made. It would appear that this war is actually causing a development in a number of life-comforting as well as life-saving medical technologies. Naom Chomsky is known for arguing that the main reason the society finances scientific research is to advance the efficiency of warfare. But, it's pretty clear that the advances made through the necessity that arises out of war improve everyones lives outside of the context of war. I wish I could take credit for this thought, but Neal Stephenson has already pointed out in Cryptonomican that even though these wars claim millions of lives, that's a drop in a bucket compare to the epidemics and other harshness that is thrown our way by mother nature. Before anyone asks that I point out a direct connection, I'll admit that a direct one is not so clear to see. But chemistry came about because of search for alchemist's stone. Thermodynamics came about because of cannon making. All the advances that are revolutionary come by accident -- not by regulated research. So there. Strife is good. Not for those who pay the price. But without strife we'd all be paying a much higher price. Just look at sheep.
Any guest worker system is indistinguishable from indentured servitude.
Maybe (okay, not maybe) I'm an anti-war psycho, but I think the guy's choice should have been : live with no legs, or we finish what the Iraqi started and put you to sleep.
Of all the people who need medical help in this world, anyone who willingly puts themselves in harm's way should go to the very end of the list. You don't go to war with the intention of surviving, you go all-or-nothing.
-Billco, Fnarg.com