Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Robotic Prostheses For Human Faces

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the make-them-wireless-for-fun-and-amusement dept.

holy_calamity writes "New Scientist reports on a patent application that suggests implanting polymer muscles beneath the skin of people suffering paralysis of the face to give them control of their features. The technique has already been used successfully to reanimate the eyelids of human cadavers. Movement could be returned to other facial features and even paralyzed limbs in the same way, the surgeons at University of California Davis say. The full patent application is also available on the WIPO site."

4 of 111 comments (clear)

  1. Way cool by flaming+error · · Score: 5, Funny

    > The technique has already been used successfully to reanimate the eyelids of human cadavers.

    That'll make such a great party trick.

    1. Re:Way cool by flyingsquid · · Score: 4, Funny
      So you can even give a dead person facial expressions? This technology seems to have no limits in it applications. I mean, I'll bet you could even get Keanu Reeves to display emotions.

      OK, let me correct that statement: this technology seems to have almost no limits in its applications.

  2. Potential here! by Trillan · · Score: 5, Funny

    Before you know it, being dead won't be nearly the handicap it is now.

    What's that? I missed the point?

  3. Re:Blinking dead people! by Ethanol-fueled · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Partial facial paralysis hasn't done anything to Harm Sylvester Stallone's career.

    Or the rest of Hollywood, for that matter. Cosmetic paralytics like botox give the appearence of fewer wrinkles and stop microexpressions from giving away lies or other unpleasant emotions, which is funny because they often cause a zombie-like facial expression. See: FoxNews.

    Humans are striving to give facial movement to corpses while they give away their own facial expressions to look like corpses.