Skip Navigation

The Daily Dish - 2006-2011 archives for The Daily Dish, featuring Andrew Sullivan

The Bionic Man

By The Daily Dish
Feb 19 2008, 2:24 AM ET

[Patrick Appel] Dean Kamen, who invented the Segway, has been working on a prosthetic arm dubbed the "Luke arm." It is named after the prosthetic Luke Skywalker receives in Star Wars. Tom Simonite writes:

The Luke arm is limited in the amount of feedback it gives the user...a big barrier for all prosthetics. So far it has only one sensor, on the thumb, which lets the user feel how they are holding something. Kamen has previously said it is his goal to make it possible to differentiate a grape from a raisin without looking.

A very good video of a prototype in action can be seen here.



Presented by

More at The Atlantic

'State of the WaPo' Watch: Two Articles Worth Reading The State of the Washington Post
The Agony of Nabeel Rajab The Agony of Nabeel Rajab
Why Does Maine Have a Two-and-a-Half-Month Caucus? Romney Wins Maine's Two-and-a-Half-Month Caucus
Why Israel Might Believe Attacking Iran Is Worthwhile Why Israeli Leaders Might Believe Attacking Iran Is Worth the Effort
The Psychology of Feminism and the Queer Case of Hugo Schwyzer Can Men Be Feminist Leaders?
Special Report
The Civil War National Portrait Gallery The Civil War
A 150th-anniversary commemorative issue, with Atlantic work by Mark Twain, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Frederick Douglass, and others. Read more ›
View All Correspondents

The Biggest Story in Photos

Athens in Flames

Feb 13, 2012

Subscribe Now

SAVE 59%! 10 issues JUST $2.45 PER COPY

Facebook

Newsletters

Sign up to receive our free newsletters

(sample)

(sample)

(sample)

(sample)