Man Explains Why He Prefers $50 3D-Printed Hand to $42,000 Prosthesis

Man Explains Why He Prefers $50 3D-Printed Hand to $42,000 Prosthesis

Everybody’s excited about the possibilities of 3D printing, but, for some people, the technology stands to improve their lives on a daily if not hourly basis. Jose Delgado, Jr., a 53-year-old man born without most of his left hand, is one of them. Thanks to 3D-printing, Jose got a new hand.

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This Bionic Ankle Walks Like It’s Alive

The human lower leg is a marvel of biological engineering—it lets you have a long, strong stride while minimizing exertion and joint strain. But conventional spring and hydraulically-driven prosthesis worn by amputees offer no such benefit and can cause osteoarthritis-inducing skeletal strains. The BiOM T2 system aims to rectify that.

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Hearing Trick Convinces People Their Arms Are Made of Stone

Hearing Trick Convinces People Their Arms Are Made of Stone

If your arm falls asleep for a while, it can sort of feel like it’s made of rubber. But how do you make your arm feel like it’s made of marble? According to Italian researchers, all you need is the sound of a hammer tapping stone. And some psychological trickery.

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This Bionic Drummer Arm Is Like Def Leppard 2.0

This Bionic Drummer Arm Is Like Def Leppard 2.0

Like Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen who lost his arm in an accident but kept on performing, aspiring drummer Jason Barnes didn’t let losing his right arm two years ago deter him from realizing his dream. He built a crude prosthetic using springs that allowed him to keep on drumming, but after enrolling at the Atlanta Institute of Music and Media, he met a professor who realized he could build Barnes something better.

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This Incredible Star Wars-Style Bionic Hand Let an Amputee Feel Again

This Incredible Star Wars-Style Bionic Hand Let an Amputee Feel Again

We geeks all have the same platonic prosthesis ideal: Luke Skywalker’s badass Star Wars mech-hand. We’re getting there, bit by bit. Dennis Aabo Sørensen’s new hand is almost there; it let him feel again.

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Teenager 3D-Prints Prosthetic Hand for Adorable 3rd Grader in Need

Teenager 3D-Prints Prosthetic Hand for Adorable 3rd Grader in Need

An enterprising 16-year-old in Kansas recently 3D-printed at prosthetic hand for his 9-year-old family friend, giving the young tyke the use of fingers for the first time in his life. And he did it all at the local county library.

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These Spherical Robot “Hands” Let You Build Things With Balls

These Spherical Robot "Hands" Let You Build Things With Balls

Who says you need opposable thumbs to assemble objects or operate complex machinery? Empire Robotics has been working on the plush sphere of the future with their so-called "jamming-based robot grippers," otherwise known as the Versaball system.

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Why Don’t We Design a Better Wheelchair?

Why Don't We Design a Better Wheelchair?

What’s the difference between using a wheelchair and wearing glasses? Both take advantage of technology to adjust or enhance human capabilities. Yet we tend to consider people in wheelchairs as disabled, and people with glasses as, well, relatively normal. It’s all about perspective.

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Say Hello to 3 New Subdomains on Gizmodo

Say Hello to 3 New Subdomains on Gizmodo

We’ve added three subdomains to the greater Gizmodo umbrella this week, three awesome blogs that have long been carving out a niche for themselves elsewhere. So here’s a hearty welcome to Southland, Abler, and Disquiet.

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Who Says Prosthetic Hands Have To Look Like Human Hands?

Conventional wisdom says that if you’re trying to replicate a part of the human body with robotics, it should look and function like the real thing. But the creators of this prosthesis have taken a different approach, simplifying the human hand to just three digits.

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