Dean Kamen's Luke arm now has mind-control and 3D-spatial interfaces

Inventor extraordinaire Dean Kamen spoke at D today about the latest developments in the Luke arm. Not that it wasn't already impressive enough, but Kamen's company, DEKA Research, has made even more amazing developments in the arm's interface, complementing the early mechanical controls with spatial and neural interfaces. The shot above was taken of a man with transected nerves, which were interfaced directly to the arm, enabling him to delicately utilize numerous degrees of motion within hours of installation. Also in development for the Luke arm is a spatial interface (which would intelligently give some control of movement back to the arm itself), as well as a non-invasive mind interface that utilizes infrared to read neural signals through the skull. Furthermore, to lend in balance and motion with heavier usage, a new body-mounting chassis was built, featuring embedded bladders that tense up (inflate). Fricking crazy stuff. Shots from Kamen's demo videos below.

Gallery: Dean Kamen's Luke arm now has mind-control and 3D-spatial interfaces

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[rock99rock @ May 29th 2008 3:22PM]

Are his eyes... red?

[Juice @ May 29th 2008 3:54PM]

It's the poor man's Iron Man. No seriously, that is a great step for Tech.

[hemmy @ May 29th 2008 4:06PM]

When Kung-Fu Cyborgs attack...

[Twitchy @ May 29th 2008 4:35PM]

"We are Borg..."

[sip @ May 30th 2008 5:07AM]

Do you think that the Borg blog?

[NakedOldGuy @ May 29th 2008 3:26PM]

So we get a wonderful video of Guitar Hero 4 nerds on stage with Paula Abdule...yet we can't get one of this potentially wonderful technology?

Engadget has failed me :(

[Ted B @ May 29th 2008 3:39PM]

Check the archives - the video was posted long ago.

[Ryan Block @ May 29th 2008 3:39PM]

The clips here were 2-5 seconds in length, hard to snag. They should be posted to the D site today, though.

[EskimoPie @ May 29th 2008 3:28PM]

How has George Lucas not sued him for the name yet?

[T H @ May 29th 2008 3:37PM]

Luke Skywallker had a robotic hand (from the wrist up), not an arm... and you can't patent the name "Luke".. so...

And form what I've heard, George Lucas isn't really the litigious type. He probably thinks this shit is awesome and doesn't mind the fact that he may have played a role in inspiring it.

[FrankTheCrank @ May 29th 2008 3:51PM]

"he never told you, I am your father"

[Jason @ May 29th 2008 5:11PM]

You are thinking of that prick Noel Lee from Monster Cable. If it was called the Monster Arm or the Noel Arm or had the words "monster" "cable" "noel" or "lee" in it then Monster would be suing them.

[Chase @ May 29th 2008 5:46PM]

George Lucas decided to remove himself from society following those 3 craptastic pre-quels.

If he tried to sue, this guy would hunt him down via his neural tracking device and rip apart his limbs with the greatest of ease.

domo arigato mr. roboto

[Arnob @ May 29th 2008 11:52PM]

speaking of which, going back and analyzing it, does anyone think about just how low tech Luke or Anakin's prostethetic hand/arms are compared to everything else in the star wars world? Seriously now, they can breed millions of clones, build hyperspace capable flying cities, AI robots, and yet they still make crude clunky robotic appendages....

nerd rant over

[Jason @ May 30th 2008 9:12AM]

what do you mean clunky robot appendeges? Luke's robotic arm was the same size as his normal arm. Anakins arms were the same way. Last i checked having a robotic arm with the same exact level of movement and mobility yet being far stronger was something that is light years ahead of our current tech level. Try using a light saber with one of these luke arm's vs the real thing in the movie!

[rektide @ May 29th 2008 3:29PM]

People arms >> robot arms

[rektide @ May 29th 2008 3:29PM]

botched that one, people arms > monkey arms

[Jay @ May 29th 2008 3:32PM]

Do you think he will be able to do the moon walk now?

[Chase @ May 29th 2008 3:33PM]

speaking of guitar hero 4... something tells me this guy is eventually gonna be the pwnzor MAST0R at Guitar Hero... his fingers can't get tired.

[Reader @ May 29th 2008 3:48PM]

Or it could just be wired to his brain for ultimate GH/RB pwnage. Could probably play all 4 instruments at once with a ton of practice.

[Ray @ May 29th 2008 4:00PM]

So, what happens if we hook this thing up to people who have 2 arms already..... DR. OCTOPUS!

But srsly, can a normal human adapt to operate extra limbs via mind control? Would we have to have this since birth for our brains to wire itself for it? Im really intrigued.

[meist3r @ May 29th 2008 4:25PM]

Then again who has the money to buy this? Do you really want to see billionaires wearing 4 Rolex watches at the same time? I'd rather see this technology help people that truly need it. Commercial production in a couple of decades not impossible but not really important.

[tekdemon @ May 29th 2008 6:28PM]

meist3r, yeah in the nearer term obviously it'd be for medical use, but like 50 years from now when they're easily available don't tell me you wouldn't be tempted to get another couple arms for whatever.

I know when I'm working on computers or cars or even cooking sometimes another arm would be super convenient.

Also? Borg fantasies.

[Emceay @ May 29th 2008 8:12PM]

I'm positive the mind is plastic enough to learn to control an extra limb.
It's like the HAL suit, we can all have our own Goro arms in less than 50 years. The only problem, is that by then we'll have gestures and mind interfaces with computers.. only certain physical tasks would be worthy of dropping however many Gs on a second set of arms. The majority of your needs would be met by thinking or gesturing anyway.

[Richard @ May 29th 2008 3:59PM]

This shit is wild.

[Richard Lai @ May 29th 2008 4:12PM]

"Everybody wants kung fu fighting..."

Awesome screenshot.

[badweasel @ May 29th 2008 4:13PM]

Can I use this to have a 3rd arm?

[meist3r @ May 29th 2008 4:23PM]

Forget the old third hand soldering tool, hold stuff yourself while your robo arm assembles SMD devices autonomously.

[Farris @ May 29th 2008 4:29PM]

HUNGER GETS WHAT HUNGER WANTS!

[Johan S @ May 29th 2008 4:29PM]

Soon you'll be able to be on the cell phone without talking.

Or posting on engadget without typing.

I am surprised that adults can learn to use neural interfaces. I woulda thought it would have to be learnt as a kid .. like learning a language or sports.

[Matthew Corley @ May 29th 2008 5:31PM]

Actually, the brain is highly adaptive to neural interfaces at all ages - and, it has nothing to do with 'active' learning. It's not muscle memory, it's not the same as actively learning a new language: the brain literally maps a new method of movement, reinterpreting signals and refining them. One of the primary methods of 'teaching' control is biofeedback...

In fact, here is a pretty good article (even if the technology is slightly different): http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/05/29/healthscience/29brain.php?page=1

[retro77 @ May 29th 2008 4:42PM]

Better pull the blog on this thing at night or you could wake up all bloody.


This technology is cool though. On Switched they had the monkey doing this. Glad too see they already have it for humans too. This will really help people who lost limbs due to IEDs.

[retro77 @ May 29th 2008 4:42PM]

ugg. spelling! blog = plug.

[Hraefn @ May 29th 2008 6:03PM]

+1 to Dean Kamen for making automail real.

[gotsmart @ May 29th 2008 6:28PM]

Dean Kamen is a genius, and his products (specifically, the iBot and the Luke... not the Segway) have the potential to make a real difference in people's lives.

[oliver hart @ May 29th 2008 6:57PM]

for the sake of accuracy, shouldnt it be called the Vader arm?

[andres @ May 29th 2008 7:32PM]

did they learn nothing from spiderman, it will take control of him

[Jaque-o @ May 30th 2008 4:36AM]

The real question is if it can pleasure you without you having to move a muscle =/

I would do horrible stuff with this, please keep it away !

On a serious note, this is frigggggin' awesome, attach 4 of these to the super computer mentioned in the other post, attach a cannon to it and it would surely take over the world... Hmmm well the last part wasnt that serious... or was it O_o, i smell human extinction !!!

[Ralph @ May 30th 2008 8:39AM]

He's more machine than man now.

Twisted

and

Evil.

[Drew @ May 30th 2008 11:08PM]

Here's a video I found on the front of DefenceTech.org (who had found it somewhere else). This is a direct link to the video of the creator talking about the arm.

http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid452319854/bctid1576332530