Bionic limbs

Just want to share this TET-Talks video about this guy who demonstrates his bionic legs and explains the current stand in bionics and what the future holds. I'll just let the video speak for itself.

reply to post by Utnapisjtim


Finally a technological advancement which actually benefits people.

Thanks for the info!

S&F.

swanne
reply to post by Utnapisjtim

 

Finally a technological advancement which actually benefits people.

Thanks for the info!

S&F.

Yes, and not only benefits, this guy shows us how bionics can even enhance moveability.

Just amazing

I wonder how long it'll be before people start asking to have their biological limbs removed in favour of an enhanced robotic limb?
Where will it end? I think thiis will go all the way to a human brain in an artificial body, and the brain will have enhancements too. At what point do we stop being human?

reply to post by VoidHawk


Looks like Man has found a way to walk around the three laws of robotics. Wonder when the first replicant army corp is a reality. Can't be long now.

swanne
reply to post by Utnapisjtim

 

Finally a technological advancement which actually benefits people.

Thanks for the info!

S&F.

Benefits rich people maybe. My Ex has a prosthetic which is cool and can bend at the knee, but is in no way anything like these bionic limbs and it has cost him plenty even with medical coverage! I can only imagine the thousands of dollars it would cost someone to have such limbs. I don't see this benefitting the common man if he can't afford to have it.

Night Star

swanne
reply to post by Utnapisjtim

 

Finally a technological advancement which actually benefits people.

Thanks for the info!

S&F.

Benefits rich people maybe. My Ex has a prosthetic which is cool and can bend at the knee, but is in no way anything like these bionic limbs and it has cost him plenty even with medical coverage! I can only imagine the thousands of dollars it would cost someone to have such limbs. I don't see this benefitting the common man if he can't afford to have it.

Yes, but cars and houses are expensive too. And besides, if economy is the subject, society has everything to gain from people overcoming disabilities allowing them to go back to work, help the family and go for a jog or treck up to Machu Pichu. This may be illusive for most Americans, but over here we actually have a functioning healthcare system and given you can document the need and benefit from such a prostetic foot, you will receive substantial state funding. No health insurance needed, stuff like healthcare and education are fundamental cornerstones in our welfare-system. Had USA spent just a fraction of it's money on giving people their feet back as they spend on shooting people's feet off, your man could have had new bionic feet, I'm sure.

absolutely amazing, couple days ago went on google to search for bionic limbs and how developed they were and I was impressed! Bionic arms that function just like our normal arms and look completely badass, I want to be outfitted with one of these bionic limbs in the future after they go mainstream, as of now, I wish every amputee could get these...

reply to post by Utnapisjtim


You are very fortunate to have a functional healthcare system. My husband lost a leg just above the knee due to diabetes complications.

Here in the U.S., there are many who fall between the cracks, who make maybe a few dollars too much to get any help whatsoever. And...even if someone did get help, it would be with a prosthetic, but not the newest and best on the market.

reply to post by Night Star


Night Star...

In the eighties, it was unusual to own a mobile phone. The cost, and indeed the size of the handset, and the briefcase batteries they took, meant that to own one at all was both an expense too great, and a burden to heavy to make it worth while for all but the most affluent, who could afford both the financial outlay, and the expense of effort required to operate them. Many of these people were bankers, movie producers, tycoons and similarly monied persons. Their phones could not send text messages, connect to the internet (which of course, was still in its infancy in those days), or connect to other devices,in any but the most rudimentary of ways.

Now, mobile telecommunications technology has improved to the point where not only are the handsets tiny by comparison, encompass the battery within their elegant forms, but they can connect to the internet, run programs, take pictures, create documents, store files of every kind, be used as a torch, as a weighing scale, to record sound. Not only has mobile telecoms come so far in that space of time, that the capabilities of the items in question increased beyond the wildest imaginings of their initial inventors, but they are available all over the world, even in the poorest places. There are smartphones in Africa, and it is not just those that you or I would consider rich who have them.

The reason I mention the mobile telephone in this instance, is because it is an example of a technology which has been improved, and has yet become cheaper in real terms, and more widespread, than its older counterpart. In fact, the same thing could be said of many gadgets, and bits of common technology that we take for granted in these modern times. The computer you are using, whether on its way to obsolete status like the one I am using, or of the latest, Windows 8 (God help you! ) variety, is only one further example of a type of technology which has had similar advancements, and similar massive distribution.

The thing that links these technologies, is that the better the performance of the best example of a given year, of any type of technology, including these limbs, the better the entry level tech of subsequent years will be. It does not apply TOTALLY across the board, but it is increasingly the case, and it is my understanding that those who create these bionic limbs, and other technological augmentations, are pressing government bodies, and healthcare providers, to improve access to this technology, and make it easier for persons who need them, to acquire them. If this research is not done, if these awesome expensive limbs are never built, then the quality of future augmentations will never be improved, so all in all, its a good effort I think!

reply to post by TrueBrit


It is a good effort in helping some people, but in America, I don't see it doing much for anyone unless they have a lot of money. Even if prices came way down, here in America it would still cost a fortune. Sadly, our healthcare sucks royally and it is usually about the money and not the people. Especially with this new Obama care crap where people who have 'affordab;e' coverage must pay high deductables before a penny is paid toward anything. My husband has health care coverage and has paid thousands of dollars out of his own pocket.

reply to post by Night Star


I think one of the first steps for Americans to get a better healthcare system would be to accept the reform offer of Obama. But no, he's the antichrist and his issued health ID is the Mark. Beats me.

Night Star
reply to post by TrueBrit

 

It is a good effort in helping some people, but in America, I don't see it doing much for anyone unless they have a lot of money.

Today? No. In ten or fifteen years though? These advancements being made now, will mean that the previously top of the line equipment will come down in price over time. The advancements made in ten years will force the price of the gear that the video shows off, down also. I am not saying that these new limbs are going to be instantly affordable, but I am saying that the better the current top of the line, the higher the availability of the previous standard in subsequent years. It will take time, and of course, for those affected immediately by the sorts of physical issues which would be solved by application of these advanced limbs and other augmentations, that is bloody unfortunate to say the least of it.

However, its worth the effort to secure for future generations, the ability to overcome the particular adversities which they encounter, do you not think?

Even if prices came way down, here in America it would still cost a fortune. Sadly, our healthcare sucks royally and it is usually about the money and not the people. Especially with this new Obama care crap where people who have 'affordab;e' coverage must pay high deductables before a penny is paid toward anything. My husband has health care coverage and has paid thousands of dollars out of his own pocket.

I hear an awful lot about Obamacare, and how it is some how sent from betwixt the buttocks of Satan, to crush the vulnerable and prevent those who need it most, from attaining any form of medical assistance what so ever. I have to say, that it would be hard to believe however, that it could be worse than the previous system, whereby people would avoid seeing a doctor at all, just because they could not afford to see one, even for the merest of ailments. I heard of people dying for such pathetic reasons under the old system.

reply to post by TrueBrit


The problem Hun, is that many people cannot afford the 'affordable' healthcare. Like I said, there are those who fall just a few dollars short of receiving discounted rates or getting it for free. And...having health care doesn't guaranty that one will make regular doctor visits.

My Ex, who has healthcare just found out that our local hospital won't accept his healthcare coverage. Now after many years, it isn't good enough? WTH??? When time is of the essence, he can't afford to be traveling out of State when in an emergency situation, so he would end up paying thousands of dollars by visiting our local hospital.

From listening to people I know personally and over the net, they are now paying more and having less coverage.

Night Star
reply to post by TrueBrit

 

The problem Hun, is that many people cannot afford the 'affordable' healthcare. Like I said, there are those who fall just a few dollars short of receiving discounted rates or getting it for free.

And the people who DO now receive cheaper healthcare, or free healthcare... what was their previous experience I wonder? Dying at home, being found by their children, cold and staring at the ceiling.

A friend of mine who left the UK to pursue a career as (would you believe it) a Jerry Lee Lewis tribute act, had severe irritable bowel syndrome. He was CRIPPLED by doctors bills in the states. Having lived in the UK, he was pretty appalled that people on low incomes even had to pay at all, except for a certain, standardised cost for perscriptions in all but the most difficult circumstances.

And...having health care doesn't guaranty that one will make regular doctor visits.

It certainly removes the fear of destitution attached to it. Another point to make is that health care is NOT a financial convention, but a medical one. Health care PLANS are financial transactions, but health care itself is given by doctors and nurses, and not administrators and box tickers.

My Ex, who has healthcare just found out that our local hospital won't accept his healthcare coverage. Now after many years, it isn't good enough? WTH??? When time is of the essence, he can't afford to be traveling out of State when in an emergency situation, so he would end up paying thousands of dollars by visiting our local hospital.

Ask yourself though, why does it cost thousands to go to the hospital, when all healthcare provision ought to be payed for out of Taxation, rather than out of the pockets of people crushed by serious illnesses? Is that because such a thing would be considered socialist, or is it because not enough powerful pharma companies would make a huge pile of money that way?

From listening to people I know personally and over the net, they are now paying more and having less coverage.

I doubt that applies to people who have been able to afford NO coverage of any kind up until now, who, for the first time in their lives CAN access some kind of treatments for their hitherto unexplored and untreated health problems! God knows the system that is in place at the moment is not perfect, but that is largely because the system was altered before it began, because of a political football game that was being played with the entire subject as a ball.

Surely you recognise that not everyone who has been affected across the US, by the new healthcare rules has been affected negatively?

Back on topic for a moment, the exact thing that the speaker in this video was alluding to, was that he was going to be talking to the people at the top of the healthcare food chain, in order to secure affordability for the limbs that people need, the ear implants that people need, and a whole host of other medical augmentations, designed to eliminate the debilitating effects of their various trauma and diseases. This indicates a step change in the intentions of people who are designing and building medical prosthesis and related equipment, to make them more focused on emulating or improving on the natural experience of a person without disability. The vast majority of prosthetic manufacture, has been done historically for the purpose of gaining a suit an awful lot of money.

If those who are building these things now, are doing it for even one tenth as good of a set of reasons as put forward by the gentleman in the video around which this thread has come up, then I for one welcome that. There are people all over the world who will benefit from these designs, and if it is the intention of their creators that they be accessible to all parties, then that bodes well for those who could make use of them!