Posted 12.09.2010 at 5:17 pm
13 Comments
Kaylene Kau's Prosthetic Arm Design
Coroflot
If it wouldn’t be completely ironic to do so, we could write at length about the value of elegance in simplicity. Instead, we offer by way of example this tentacle-like prosthesis designed by recent U. of Washington industrial design grad Kaylene Kau. It’s simple, both aesthetically and mechanically, and it solves a problem smartly.
Prodded by one of her professors to think differently about upper-limb prostheses, Kau found – perhaps not surprisingly – that prosthetics really work as assistants to the functioning limb. The resulting design is flexible and adjustable, providing a grip that changes to accomodate the object. The amount of curl in the arm is controlled by two buttons mounted on the prosthesis, which direct a single motor to either increase or decrease curl via two cables running the length of the arm.
It doesn’t measure up to the ambitious prostheses pursued by DARPA or DEKA Labs; it doesn’t plug into the nervous system or recreate the missing five-fingered hand synthetically. But it’s not trying to. What it does, at least in concept, is offer a feasible, immediate solution to problems faced by those missing a partial limb. And it does so without great complexity or expense. You won’t praise for virtues like simplicity and affordability often from PopSci (no one wants to take teleportation holidays to robot-populated moon cities as much as we do), but when something works, it works.
Doing Curls: Coroflot
[Coroflot]
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I wonder how weird it would be to make the transition from hand to tentacle.
looks like professor wogglebug.
Praise the star gods,
hail Cthulhu, praise Dagon, arise Nyarlathotep, awaken Azathoth.
It's prosthetic cthulhu.
:D
If the kid at my lunch table had that I would be scared...
"Do you fear death...?"
Now, if we only gave them a prosthetic claw on the other hand, and prosthetic tentacle-beard.
I'm of course I'm referencing Davy Jones here... ;)
I immediately thought naughty thoughts. Sorry Santa.
This will revolutionize the porn industry
The expense of prosthetic limbs means that alot of people needing them have to go without, specially in war torn countries outside of the US. There is a place for the advanced work of DARPA and DEKA in this area for those markets that can afford those prices, but producing cheap useful prosthetics will maybe serves the wider "market" in the meantime. Well done Kaylene Kau and the University of Washington.
I usually try to avoid commenting on articles, especially with stupid things, but I can't resist this one...
Is anyone else surprised this didn't come from Japan?
1 - That's beautiful, and much better than some shabby pretense in imitation of the thing lost.
2 - The gag in the first line amuses me.
3 - You missed the word "hear." "You won't hear praise," as opposed to "You won't praise."
sadly, i agree with the naughty comments here. so hard to 'finger' oneself with a prosthetic hand, but what kind of self-manipulating replacement limb do the penis-wielding amputees receive? btw, what a nice toilet-paper holder, all the better for beating you with, my dear.
If the prothesis is equipped with electronic capulae, this device will do a lot of delicate works like real octopus tentacles.
I think it will be particularly useful in laboratory, in dangerous microbiology or chemical experiment.
Man,,if you had eight of them you could be the new Doc Oc