Watch how technology allows an amputee to dance again

Shawn Knight

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Technology has been instrumental in creating realistic and lifelike prosthetic limbs over the past several years. One of the most impressive examples yet comes from Hugh Herr, an associate professor of media arts and sciences at MIT.

A double amputee himself, Herr has created a bionic ankle packing two microprocessors and six environmental sensors. The device is able to adjust ankle stiffness, power, position and damping thousands of times each second to provide the wearer with a more natural gait – something that could go a long way in helping to prevent osteoarthritis as a patient gets older.

In the clip above (starts around 17 minutes in), you’ll see professional dancer Adrianne Haslet-Davis dance the rumba after losing part of her leg during the Boston Marathon bombing last year. As you’ll see, the fluidity of the limb is certainly impressive and you’d be hard pressed to notice anything out of the ordinary if it were under a pair of jeans, etc.

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Absolutely outstanding. A decade or two and the tech will be once again so far ahead that you will have flesh like robotic legs :D The blind will see, def will hear and the mute will talk. The beauty of technology :) Can't believe some people still fear it tho :/

I recommend watching "The Transcendent Man" and check out 'Jason Silva' as well on Youtube/Vimeo.
 
This is awesome and she's already so comfortable with it after less than a year.
 
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