“The patient, called “Milo”, aged 26, lost the use of his right hand in a motorcycle accident a decade ago.

After his stump heals in several weeks’ time, he will be fitted with a bionic hand which will be controlled by nerve signals in his own arm.”

The initial horror over an elective amputation was quickly overcome by intrigue over the mechanical new appendage:

“Such bionic hands, manufactured by the German prosthetics company Otto Bock, can pinch and grasp in response to signals from the brain that are picked up by two sensors placed over the skin above nerves in the forearm.”

Watching the video of another case in the article amazes me with how far the technology has come.

Previously, I was concerned with the plausibility of my USB-Hand that would allow high-fiving, fist bumps, and slapping people through the internet.

My dream yet lives.

-The Intern

Do you read and speak Japanese well? They need volunteers to translate articles! Hone your anime-watching skills and put them to good use:

The Robotics Task Force for Anti-Disaster (ROBOTAD) is a community of volunteers in Japan who gather to exchange and discuss the issues of technology, application, and management to utilize robotics toward
recovery from the Great East Japan Earthquake and the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant Disaster. The ROBOTAD is a hyper-academic organization and tightly liaises with academic societies, the Science Council of Japan, and the industry. The ROBOTAD is chaired by Professor Hajime Asama, the University of Tokyo.

The Robotics Task Force

Seriously, how has no one thought of this earlier? Aside,of course, from the whole “oh my god I just lost my finger” thing:

Geek Replaces Lost Finger With 2GB USB Finger

A Finnish programmer who lost his finger in a motorcycle accident has now replaced it with a prosthetic finger that has a USB drive built in. Jerry Jalava can now peel back his “nail” and reveal a 2GB “finger drive” for storing photos, movies and software.

Jalava had his left ring finger amputated last summer after crashing into a deer with his motorbike near the Finnish capital Helsinki. Given his profession as a computer programmer, the doctors treating him joked that he should have a USB “finger drive” and Jalava went for the idea.

[Thanks Vexed Magazine! (we found this through their twitter feed, which we have had for a while now.]

“To Serve Man” indeed…

Category – SERVING
winners: Sloth (kal spelletich)

And
fairy juicer (mitch heinrich, david fine)

Category – MIXING
winners: k&k klavier (FH Joanneum) [judges motivation: aesthetics]

and
construction wanker (FH Joanneum) [judges motivation: re-introduction of punch-cards]

Category – CONVERSATION
winner: chassis (jon foote, al honig)

Category – OTHER ACHIEVEMENTS
winners: rimshot bot (ctp)

and
reprap shot bot (bre pettis, marius kinkel, philip tiefenbacher)

Category – HUMAN SUBJUGATION
winner: gina (FH Joanneum)

Category – MOST LEGALLY CHALLENGING
winner: robovox (martin bricelj)

Category – REPRODUCABILITY
winner: lego shotbot (Anthony Fudd)

LIMES – (the un-awards for most dubious achievements)

most spectacular fail – sloth
stickiest, ickiest – globo
most displaced in cocktail environment – drill-pro-mill
most politically and genderifically incorrect – construction wanker

The robot’s biological brain is made up of cultured neurons which are placed onto a multi electrode array (MEA). The MEA is a dish with approximately 60 electrodes which pick up the electrical signals generated by the cells. This is then used to drive the movement of the robot. Every time the robot nears an object, signals are directed to stimulate the brain by means of the electrodes. In response, the brain’s output is used to drive the wheels of the robot, left and right, so that it moves around in an attempt to avoid hitting objects. The robot has no additional control from a human or a computer, its sole means of control is from its own brain.

The researchers are now working towards getting the robot to learn by applying different signals as it moves into predefined positions. It is hoped that as the learning progresses, it will be possible to witness how memories manifest themselves in the brain when the robot revisits familiar territory.

…

This is no ordinary robot control system – a plain old microchip connected to a circuit board. Instead, the controller nestles inside a small pot containing a pink broth of nutrients and antibiotics. Inside that pot, some 300,000 rat neurons have made – and continue to make – connections with each other.

As they do so, the disembodied neurons are communicating, sending electrical signals to one another just as they do in a living creature. We know this because the network of neurons is connected at the base of the pot to 80 electrodes, and the voltages sparked by the neurons are displayed on a computer screen.

I had the pleasure of speaking with Dr. Warwick, one of the leaders in the experiment, at TechFest in Bombay 2 years ago. I’ve read his books, and at first glance, he seems like a nut. But then, so did Einstein. He’s one of the most brilliant people I’ve ever met, and I am certain that he’ll both cure Parkinson’s (some would say he already has done so, it’s just that the friggin’ Fed’s will take forever to approve it) and be a Nobel laureate for doing so.

The folks at CarNAYgie Mellon and some other excessively smart people have come up with a kick ass prototype for a supple little number for possibly traveling through your circ system and curing the signs of your fried chicken and potato chip diet.

It also works really nicely as a model for when you do your sweded version of Dune. Plus, 120 degrees of freedom! *rowwrrrr*

“Metalosis Maligna” is a fictitious documentary created in 2006 by Floris Kaayk of Microbia about a mysterious new disease affecting people with implants.

via the Squid

Pornomechanics: Sex Robots and the Mechanisms of Love

This presentation will begin with a viewing of the film “Love Machine” (2001), directed by Peter Asaro. This independently produced feature length documentary looks at the development of robots capable of entering human social relations of love, caring, and friendship. It also explores the social interests and fears surrounding their potential as sexual partners, augmenting or replacing human sexual interactions.

It features interviews with leading roboticists, philosophers, sexologist and inventors, including: Rodney Brooks, Hans Moravec, Ken Goldberg, Hubert Dreyfus, Daniel Dennett, Manuel Delanda, Carol Queen, Robert Morgan Lawrence, Ernest Green, Lisa Palac, and others.

Following the film will be a discussion between film maker Peter Asaro and technology theorist Katie Vann, as well as an opportunity for audience questions.

The Rotor is old enough by now that he shouldn’t be embarrassed by stuff like this, but still is sometimes.

As we sit here applauding their advances in such technology and desperately trying not to snicker, we discover that saying the mere phrase ACTICON NEOSPHINCTER immediately inspires us to shout something noble sounding in Japanese and magically change into a lot of spandex.

This affliction also causes us to continually refer to the ACTICON NEO- SPHINCTER in all caps.

While we fight this urge and the urge to knock down large building with every step, roaring with triumphant rage, please indulge in some more links about the NeoSphincter.

Developed by those clever nerds down at CarNAYgie Mellon University Robotics Institute (Head Rotor being one such clever nerd, go Tartans), The Heartlander is a very tiny, disposable robot that provides access for minimally invasive cardiac therapy.

This little woochie-coochie critter caterpillars across live, beating heart tissue, and gives access to surgeons to repair people’s dicky tickers. The fact that the mechanism is dispoable cuts down on infection, and the mass production aspect cuts therapy costs dramatically.

PLUS the patient gets a cute little toy to run up and down their hospital room window when they are done!*

Photos and video are here.

*not really, but I wish they would.