A man with Bionic arm: Has Futuristic Limb that includes Phone Charger, Torch and even a Drone
Four years ago, James Young’s life changed forever in a freak accident when he fell under a train. The 26-year-old from London sustained multiple injuries – including collapsed lungs, a fractured skull and face, rib fractures and cracks in his spine – he damaged his left arm while his left leg was severed below the knee at the scene.
He than became ‘part cyborg’ in experiment that fitted him with prototype bionic arm.
His bionic arm was fitted at the London studio of prosthetics artist Sophie De Oliveira Barata
Sophie, who has worked on special effects for films, designed James a bespoke metal arm with an attached plastic articulated hand worked by muscles in his shoulders.
The muscle signals are detected by sensors attached to the skin of his shoulders – the sensors are connected to a harness across the top of his body that then operates the arm and hand, all powered by battery.
The prosthetic limb combines ground-breaking robotics, connected to nerves and muscles in the shoulder, with state-of-the-art aesthetics to provide a unique design that reflects the wearer’s personality
The cyborg-style arm also features a laser light (for effect rather than any practical use), a torch (to help him find his way around at night), a USB port to charge his phone; a watch and even a drone.
A new life is opening up in more ways than one for James, who recently made his speaking debut at a conference bringing science and technology together.
And he recently received a backhanded compliment – being told that he wasn’t disabled enough for a disabled version of a new Bear Grylls adventure programme.
‘The maker had approached me and asked: “What’s the main problem in your life that you can’t do?”
‘And I said: “Nothing – apart from not being able to run every day round the London Docks to de-stress like I used to.”
‘So they picked someone else instead,’ he grins.
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