Open Bionics' 3D-printed 'Hero Arm' is now available in the US

[Cal Jeffrey]

Through the looking glass: Practically any boy who grew up in the 1970s and 80s pretended to be Steve Austin, aka The Bionic Man. Granted it would cost us three quarters of our limbs, an eye, and, six million dollars, but we didn't care — he was cool. Now bionics are here. They aren't as powerful as Steve Austin's, but it's still in its infancy.

Open Bionics announced on Thursday that with the help of a partnership with Hanger Clinic, it has brought its Hero Arm prosthetic limb to the United States. The robotic arm used to only be available in the UK and France.

The prosthetics are 3D-fitted and printed, so Open Bionics can produce them faster and cheaper than other advanced bionic limbs. The arms have myoelectric sensors that articulate the hand movements “with lifelike precision.”

“Special sensors within the Hero Arm detect muscle movements, meaning you can effortlessly control your bionic hand with intuitive life-like precision,” says Open Bionics. “Also, haptic vibrations, beepers, buttons and lights provide you with intuitive notifications.”

Probably best of all for the kids is that the arms can be themed to their favorite heroes. The UK has seen Ironman, Star Wars, Frozen, and Deus Ex inspired versions of the limbs. Heck, even as an adult I wouldn’t mind having a working Deus Ex prosthetic — even if just as a collector’s piece.

However, the arms are not cheap. They start at around $3,000. Still, that is far less than its competitors which can cost up to $95,000. Better yet, Open Bionics can fit and print an arm in about 40 hours. This is much faster than the weeks and months it takes for similar products.

Bristol-based Open Bionics was co-founded by Joel Gibbard and Samantha Payne in 2014 when Gibbard was still a teenager. He won the UK’s James Dyson Award for Engineering in 2015, but that was just the start. In 2017, the company was awarded the UAE AI & Robotics Award for Good, which came with a $1 million prize. The capital enabled the startup to complete work on the development of the Hero Arm.

For orders and more information visit the Open Bionics website.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/79515-open-bionics-3d-printed-hero-arm-now-available.html

 

[Uncle Al]

Well, that's not THE dumbest thing I've ever seen ..... but it's a close 2nd ........

 

[QuantumPhysics]

#1 Winter soldier arm

#2 Cable's arm

#3 Infinity Gauntlet

#4 Megaman's X Buster

What more could you need?

 

[Cycloid Torus]

Thanks, Cal. Good to know.

 

[wiyosaya]

Well, that's not THE dumbest thing I've ever seen ..... but it's a close 2nd ........

Really? I bet you would not be saying that if you were in a position to need one of these.

 

[Qrox]

Well, that's not THE dumbest thing I've ever seen ..... but it's a close 2nd ........

Why? A much more affordable bionic prosthetic that doesn't look like it was made in a shed or look like those very cheap rubber hands. I see no problem with this.

 

[Badvok]

Well, that's not THE dumbest thing I've ever seen ..... but it's a close 2nd ........

If only they did prosthetic empathy ...

 

[mcborge]

Good on Open Bionics. They seem to be doing things the right way by reducing cost whilst providing smarter and cooler looking prosthetics to those that need them. I wonder if anyone has asked them to produce any T-800 styled limbs yet.

 

[Qrox]

Good on Open Bionics. They seem to be doing things the right way by reducing cost whilst providing smarter and cooler looking prosthetics to those that need them. I wonder if anyone has asked them to produce any T-800 styled limbs yet.

Iron Man arms are what I would want.

 

[mcborge]

Iron Man arms are what I would want.

That would look cool but a terminator endoskeleton styled limb would really freak people out especially if you had a removable skin for it that you could rip off just before telling people to "listen very carefully" in an Arnie voice.

 

[Stingy McDuck]

"The UK has seen Ironman, Star Wars, Frozen, and Deus Ex inspired versions of the limbs"

I wonder what a Frozen prostetic would look like.

 

[Shawn Auxier]

Quick search shows that it is Darker blue near the elbow gradiated to a light blue at the fingers with snow flake designs and large snowflake where the wrist would be. Quite cute actually

 

[JamesSWD]

The real breakthrough will come when someone invents an actual neural-to-digital transducer interface, so that there's an actual connection to the nervous system & brain, allowing one to control the bionics as smoothly & precisely as a human hand. With the additional development of a proper synthetic 'skin', this could also provide human-like touch sense feedback.

 

[Arsal Khawaja]

The real breakthrough will come when someone invents an actual neural-to-digital transducer interface, so that there's an actual connection to the nervous system & brain, allowing one to control the bionics as smoothly & precisely as a human hand. With the additional development of a proper synthetic 'skin', this could also provide human-like touch sense feedback.

Lol bro one of my family friends has created a bionic arm in university which is mind controlled but doesn't have the skin type features. However I hope to be the one who does that and include the human like touch sense feedback