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Hugh Herr is building the next generation of bionic limbs, robotic prosthetics inspired by nature's own designs. Herr lost both legs in a climbing accident 30 years ago; now, as the head of the MIT Media Lab's Biomechatronics group, he shows his incredible technology in a talk that's both technical and deeply personal — with the help of ballroom dancer Adrianne Haslet-Davis, who lost her left leg in the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, and performs again for the first time on the TED stage.

It's a long video, but it's amazing. While not quite Deus Ex-level yet, seems like bionics have jumped by leaps and bounds...even allowing people to dance again after losing a limb. I'm simply awe-struck by this video.

I'm uncomfortable with healthy people wearing them, but this is utterly fething amazing for anyone who needs prosthetics.

Awesome.

Anything that gets me closer to bionic limbs is a plus.

Seriously though, it would be awesome if stuff like this could be integrated already. The only downside is that I know it will be monumentally expensive.

 Sparkadia wrote:
Anything that gets me closer to bionic limbs is a plus.

Seriously though, it would be awesome if stuff like this could be integrated already. The only downside is that I know it will be monumentally expensive.

Give it 10ish years and it will be fairly standard. At the very least you'll be able to get a functional one for cheap. And even a small upgrade in price will get you way more functionality.

Fortunately, prosthetic limbs will likely not experience the same problems other medical tech has in issues of price because you could actually make your own limb yourself. The parts to make prosthetics are commonly available, unlike chemicals for medicine, and thus you will have greater true competition and better economies of scale. Plus its kinda hard to patent an arm or a leg.


Heck, with all that 3-D printing that will become commonly available you'll have guys in their garage making and selling their own bionic limbs from their house.

And customization, o the customization there will be!

I think what's most impressive is the proposed hybrid biomechanical nerve interface that will allow genuine sensory feedback. Once that basic technology is viable, it will just be a matter of time until miniaturisation and sophistication of components advance enough to fully replicate a human limb with synthetics, just imagine what that might mean for people who lose a limb through injury - no more traumatic and frustrating rehab, no need to relearn basic motor skills to compensate for the inadequacies of the replacement, they could implant the synthetic limb during the same operation as the amputation.

It also has huge implications for bionic treatment of spinal injuries and nerve damage - artificial skin grafts for victims of severe burns that would provide true sensation, restoring feeling and full range of movement to extremities after severe but not catastrophic damage, synthetic vertebrae that bridge the damaged portion of a person's spine using an electronic interface.

I find his philosophical proposition very appealing as well, and it's interesting to note that people with impairments actually seem to be bigger proponents of augmenting baseline human ability than many people with baseline ability.