Wearable Robot Adds Two Fingers To Your Hand

rtoz writes: Researchers at MIT have developed a robot that enhances the grasping motion of the human hand. This wrist-wearable robot adds two extra fingers that respond to movements in the wearer's hand. The robotic fingers are on either side of the hand — one outside the thumb, and the other outside the little finger. A control algorithm enables it to move in sync with the wearer's fingers to grasp objects of various shapes and sizes. With the assistance of these extra fingers, the user can grasp objects that are usually too difficult to pick up and manipulate with a single hand.

Comments

The Gripping Hand?

[boristdog]

I see that the kids at MIT have read their Niven.

Re:The Gripping Hand?

[drinkypoo]

I see that the kids at MIT have read their Niven.

They should probably have read their Shirow, instead. To wit, it makes much more sense to add more arms than to do anything else. We already have two arms which are good at doing fine work. Adding more fingers to them will only make them more cumbersome. Instead, you add more arms to perform gross tasks, like holding things up for a long time, carrying or moving heavy things, and so on. These arms could be programmable to continue doing whatever you were doing, whether it be static, dynamic, or include aspects of both. For example, clamping two items together, operating a pump, or holding a camera steady, respectively.

Re:The Gripping Hand?

[Anonymous Coward]

These arms could be programmable to continue doing whatever you were doing, whether it be static, dynamic, or include aspects of both. For example, clamping two items together, operating a pump, or holding a camera steady, respectively.

That's a weird way to say masturbation.

Re:The Gripping Hand?

[drinkypoo]

These arms could be programmable to continue doing whatever you were doing, whether it be static, dynamic, or include aspects of both. For example, clamping two items together, operating a pump, or holding a camera steady, respectively.

That's a weird way to say masturbation.

I said or respectively, not and simultaneously.

Re:The Gripping Hand?

[brianerst]

The GP was imprecise. The Gripping Hand of the Moties in the Niven/Pournelle CoDominium universe is a third arm/hand - it is used for strength and better grip. Two hands for detail/fine work, one for heavy lifting/gripping.

It's also used in the sense of a "third way" between two sides of an argument - "on the one hand, on the other hand and on the gripping hand". The gripping hand argument is supposed to be the strongest one and a way around the weakness of the core conflict.

Re:The Gripping Hand?

[Briareos]

These arms could be programmable to continue doing whatever you were doing, whether it be static, dynamic, or include aspects of both. For example, clamping two items together, operating a pump, or holding a camera steady, respectively.

That's a weird way to say masturbation.

Well, considering what Shirow has been up to lately it's probably the first thing that comes to mind...

Re:The Gripping Hand?

[rizole]

A bioenginnered prehensile tail. Just saying.

Re:The Gripping Hand?

[drinkypoo]

It's also used in the sense of a "third way" between two sides of an argument - "on the one hand, on the other hand and on the gripping hand".

Yes, I use it in that sense here on slashdot all the time, because I am a big ol' nerd. And amusingly, I have even contributed to a discussion titled "on the gripping hand" here on Slashdot.

The Gripping Hand of the Moties in the Niven/Pournelle CoDominium universe is a third arm/hand - it is used for strength and better grip. Two hands for detail/fine work, one for heavy lifting/gripping.

Right. And at least one Shirow suit (but several, IIRC) has big arms above the wearer's normal arms, which can be used to do stuff like throw cars. But the wearer's arms can also be used while the suit is worn, to do fine work that doesn't require massive arms that are themselves around the size of a human in body armor.

meh

[globaljustin]

this looks like good engineering work...really...I read TFA...but the *design* and *concept* are, to me, kind of dumb

dumb...as in it really feels like they were spitballing ideas and said "hey, why not extra fingers?"

IMHO this is an example of robotics continuing to spin its wheels...

it's a *power* and *material science* game now...we have the connectivity with the brain now...we have stacks of ideas...who can't imagine all kinds of applications for robotics?

now it's just about the power source and making it small enough yet sturdy

Re:Thus begins the Borg

[Mr D from 63]

Technology is progressing to where, one day, maybe you actually CAN pick your friend's nose.

Third hand?

[srk]

I would prefer a third hand, with one more hand you can do much more than with just two additional fingers.

Re:Third hand?

[Dishevel]

I would prefer a third hand, with one more hand you can do much more than with just two additional fingers.

I am sure you are correct but controlling an extra arm may not be as intuitive as the extra fingers. It looks to me as if the programming kinda makes the fingers work with your natural movements to give you a little more capability.

Re:Third hand?

[fahrbot-bot]

I would prefer a third hand, with one more hand you can do much more than with just two additional fingers.

That's what she said.

Re:Third hand?

[danomatika]

Yes you can. Artists ahead of their time, Stelarc's 1980 Third Hand: http://people.ucsc.edu/~joahan...

Re:Third hand?

[danomatika]

Some context from Stelarc's website:

The hand was completed in 1980 in Yokohama. It was based on a prototype developed at Waseda University. It was constructed with the assistance of Imasen in Nagoya. It has been used in performances by the artist between 1980- 1998 in Japan, the USA, Europe and Australia. It has become the best- known and longest-used performance object for the artist. Originally it was designed as a semi- permanent attachment to the body, but because of skin irritation from electrode gel and the weight of the hand, support structure and the battery pack (approx. 2 kgms), it could not be worn continuously and thus it became a special performance device. The Third Hand has come to stand for a body of work that explored intimate interface of technology and prosthetic augmentation- not as a replacement but rather as an addition to the body. A prosthesis not as a sign of lack, but rather a symptom of excess. The Third Hand performances, with amplified body signals and sounds, have contributed to cyborg discourses on the body, included in more recent performances such as FRACTAL FLESH, PING BODY and PARASITE. See documentation of the performance postcards for a conceptual context.

Re:"Fingers"

[pixelpusher220]

Fingers? Those are dildos

and you don't think the *Japanese* have already marked this down as a sex toy possibility?

but seriously, expand your mind. This sort of thing has huge potential, just look at existing robo-skeletons already in use. That this initial prototype is unwieldy and rough? it's how progress is made

Can't wait for new musical instruments

[Anonymous Coward]

Strumming on some super power chords!

Re:Can't wait for new musical instruments

[un1nsp1red]

Maybe I'll finally be able to play Classical Gas!

Re:Can't wait for new musical instruments

[Demolition]

Yes! With this doohickey, I can finally play the Hardest Chord Ever!!! \m/

And now for the improperly spun article of the day

[DrPeper]

Ok, so I read the snippet of the article and got one image in my mind, then when I went to the article and saw the picture... Let's just say less than impressive. Those aren't fingers those are sticks.

Wake me when I can strap two extra tentacle like arms with actually human(ish) hands on the end of them to my back. Oh and they should be partially intelligent too.

Single Hand?

[Anonymous Coward]

Grasp objects [...] too difficult [use] with a single hand.

You mean like today's smartphones?

The Yakuza

[Ronin Developer]

are thrilled.

Re:And now for the improperly spun article of the

[boristdog]

Sure, and have Spider man trying to kick your ass all the time?

My name is Inigo Montoya

[cheese_boy]

You killed my father, prepare to die.
Oh - wait, you've got 7 fingers and not 6?
Oh, OK then, nevermind.

Extra middle fingers would be useful

[NeoNormal]

to me in my job. I could flip off more managers in one action.

Re:Extra middle fingers would be useful

[Cardoor]

but you can only have one middle finger. if you are agnostic to it being a single-digit-flip, you can give a reverse-boy-scout-salute with the middle three and get a leg up

Furries

[Nkwe]

are thinking about having prehensile tails now.

Ghost in the Shell?

[rsborg]

Maybe it's a precursor to this awesomeness [1].
[1] https://www.google.com/search?...

Impressed

[LongearedBat]

Ah, that explains how Doctor Octopus can control his mechanical arms. Perhaps that can give Spider-Man an added advantage.

On a more serious note: I'm impressed they can control the extra fingers so naturally. I didn't think it'd be possible without interfacing directly with the nervous system.

different than prostetic hand

[globaljustin]

wow...

first of all, I can criticize the concept and design all I want...it's not rude or offensive towards disabled people to demand *better* design at all...

missing one hand after an accident?

your (trolling) criticism is also factually incorrect....TFA isn't a prostetic hand to replace an injured limb...this is expressly intended to be an addition to the main 'hand' so anyone might use it

my point was/is that robotics is only limited by the power source and material strength now, and all these (really expensive) hype-generating projects is not progressing science...it's just rearranging of tinker toys, b/c we have different limits now...we have the BCI interface perfected enough to start using for this stuff...the design ideas are there...now its just a question of power/material strength...i'd like to see research and hype directed in that area

Re:different than prostetic hand

[Belial6]

The person missing a hand or an arm would be better served by a robotic hand or arm. Even if refined, this idea would always be less useful than even current high end prosthetic replacing the actual missing limb.

Re:different than prostetic hand

[ph0rk]

Because they can clearly only use one or the other.

Re:different than prostetic hand

[globaljustin]

Because they can clearly only use one or the other.

yeah I thought the same...

if i was missing a hand, I'd definitely want to try this out in tandem with my prostetic hand

this is a great area to be in, for my money...you get to work with the latest BCI crap and robotics AND directly improve people's lives in a tangible way

Re:different than prostetic hand

[Belial6]

Which would make the fact that the person is missing a limb irrelevant to the use of this device, and we are back to letting all of the other comments that deal with this outside of the scope of prosthesis for people with missing hands.

This illustrates my problem with creationism

[HangingChad]

Religious people claim we were designed by god That seems hard to believe when engineering improvements like this can be made so easily. Our skulls are too soft, our field of vision and range of motion is fairly limited. If the Great Engineer in the sky really did design human beings, it seems like he or she could have done a better job. We have features that give us a competitive advantage over other animals, nothing more.

Reminiscent of 60's Toy "Sixfinger"

[theodp]

The "Amazing" Sixfinger: the Most Disturbing Toy that You Probably Never Owned

Re:Reminiscent of 60's Toy "Sixfinger"

[nytes]

Heh. I had one of those.

Not nearly as disturbing as this, sold as a kid's party game in Japan, IMO.

Contrived

[jklovanc]

All the examples look very contrived. They show specific tasks where the extra fingers would be useful. For me the extra fingers would probably be useful 1% of the time and get in the way 90% of the time.

looks more like ....

[Selur]

.. two dildos, then two additional fingers, so may be it will be a great thing in the sex toy industry

Amputees

[scuzzlebutt]

I can see this being most useful for amputees that have only the use of one hand. The use case where one would normally use one hand to stabilize an object and the other to manipulate it would be very useful to this group of people.

Re:Amputees

[scuzzlebutt]

Additionally, they didn't even touch on this in the video.

The women in my life

[denmarkw00t]

Will be quite pleased. Or mortified.

Re:The women in my life

[rubycodez]

I was waiting for someone to make "The Shocker" reference.....of course, the very inexperienced geek college kids who think that is cool may one day find out female anatomy doesn't make it possible to actually use the configuration of fingers as advertised.

Re:The women in my life

[denmarkw00t]

C'mon, get limber! But, I would always advise in getting consent for those kinds of things, or the shocker might end up being the swift kick in the face you get for trying to surprise her.

Re:The women in my life

[rubycodez]

protip: in matter of stimulation or penetration of the anus, no women will ever be displeased or shocked if instead of using fingers, you use your tongue

Need more thumbs

[brianerst]

That's interesting (if a little clumsy). I wonder if a different arrangement of digits would work better.

I'm thinking of placing an opposable thumb opposite the existing thumb (a mirror image of the existing thumb) and one on the base of the wrist pointing up which would curl up when the fingers curl down. Without modeling it, it would be hard to tell if the extra digits would get in the way too much, but they would greatly increase the ability to do certain types of grips.

(And why does Firefox seem to think opposable isn't a word?)

A waist mounted one would be cool

[Maxo-Texas]

It could have four multiple helper arms to assist you. You could read a paper without using your arms. Just avoid having any tragic accidents while wearing them.

Very exciting tech

[soft_guy]

I have a child who has cerebral palsy and as a result has quite limited use of her right arm. Adding fingers to her left arm could maybe really benefit her.

Clapton

[mdsolar]

Waiting for Eric Clapton to take this out on tour.

See TFS - it exemplifies the opposite

[raymorris]

Apparently you didn't watch the fine video.
The bright young entrepreneurs at MIT had human fingers to examine as prior art, and what they came up with was "strap two sticks to your wrist to get in the way". The original design of our bodies is WAY better than what MIT is coming up with.

Have you ever had a nasty cut, where you cut a little chunk out of yourself? I''ve done that a few times. I couldn't locate exactly where, because the missing chunks of flesh have been regenerated automatically. Try taking a chunk out of your iPhone or any human technology. Let us know when it grows back.

There are some people with some silly ideas about the creator, and therefore some strong arguments against those silly ideas. Engineering prowess isn't one of those strong arguments. Everything from the water cycle on the macro level to ion pumps on the microscopic level - genius ideas abound in nature.

Interesting technology!

[duke_cheetah2003]

What caught my eye most about this invention is how much closer it brings us to operating HEAVY machinery by just moving our hands and the machine responds to our movements.

For me this brings exo-skeletal machines to mind as being much closer to reality, things like the loader from Aliens, the exo-combat skeletons in Matrix, etc. The applications of the tracking system exampled in the video are simply endless, from operating sci-fi constructs already mentioned, right down to more real machinery such as excavators, cranes and other construction machinery.

Looking forward to seeing who merges this stuff with heavy machinery first. ^.^

Finally

[EuclideanSilence]

Maybe now I can finally manage to play an F chord.

A step in the right direction

[hyades1]

They can get back to me on this when it's got THREE extra fingers...and a tongue.

;-)

Add three fingers per hand ....

[PPH]

... and we can count in hexadecimal.

The octopus problem

[fyngyrz]

How many of us have tried to do something and wished we had (at least) a third hand?

I would pay a *lot* for a third hand, as I do a lot of my own construction work (building an interior into an old church we now live in.)

I can't even guess at the number of times I've had to wait until I had someone at my side to hold, turn, twist, drill, cut, brace, etc.

This stuff is great to hear. Love the idea of extra fingers.

Although it does put me strangely in mind of that scene in Heavy Metal where a robot, after having "done" a very sexy human female, spins his fingers around with a "whiiizzz", while commenting something on the order of "human woman love sex with mechanical assistance" lol