I, for one, welcome the coming generation of cyborg children


For people with missing limbs, here’s a prosthetic interface that allows them to customize it…with Lego.

Hoping to build the confidence of children living with a missing limb, Carlos Arturo Torres Tovar, of Umeå University in Sweden, has designed a prosthetic arm that’s compatible with Lego so kids can swap its gripping attachment for their own custom creations.

The arm functions very similar to traditional prosthetics, but it features a twist-and-lock modular design that’s easy for kids to assemble. And with a special motorized adapter, its standard three finger gripper can be swapped out for one made entirely of Lego. By essentially turning the prosthetic into one of their toys, Carlos hopes his IKO arm will empower children by improving their every day lives, but also their confidence while interacting with other children who might feel uncomfortable.

That’s absolutely brilliant.

Comments

  1. Gregory Greenwood says

    That is a truly inspired idea. Anything that makes the lives of kids that have lost limbs easier gets a big thumbs up from me.

  2. redwood says

    Were I a kid in this situation, the first thing my evil little mind would probably try to make is a long-distance butt-pincher.

    I’m sure the kids who get this wonderful invention will come up with much better and more useful creations—even their friends can help out with ideas. What a great concept.

  3. rietpluim says

    OMFG Have you heard? I’m sorry, this is completely off-topic but I’m so shocked I must post it somewhere: Jehovah’s witnesses in Australia have covered up more than 1,000 cases of child abuse since the 1950’s. https://youtu.be/gkfwqWEF0Ms. One elder man, Max Horley, testified he didn’t report it because he didn’t know child abuse was illegal. WTF??

  4. says

    As if I was not already annoyed that I can’t buy all the Lego sets that I want, now this is pretty much guaranteed that new stuff will be amazing in terms of what it can functionally do. It’s only a matter of time before this gets more specialized and spawns ideas elsewhere.

    Awesome stuff.

  5. jnorris says

    In 10 top 20 years there should be a Noble Prize for Lego Engineering.

    A Brownie Troop engineered a book page turner using Legoes. I now believe if you want anything built that will do something to help people, just give a group of elementary school kids three million Lego pieces and stand back.