/ News
Engineer at MIT Media Lab Designed his own Bionic Legs
Hugh Herr lost his legs to frostbite as a teenager after a mountain climbing excursion went terribly wrong. Hugh, a self-professed "hacker", worked with wood and metal to create bionic limbs that helped him climb better than his original equipment.
Fast forward 30 years to 2014. Hugh is standing on stage at the SolidWorks World conference demonstrating prosthetics that are so advanced that they truly mimic the motions of natural limbs. The legs have 2 microprocessors and 12 sensors that allow Hugh to walk and even run with a natural gait.
Hugh is a designer and an engineer at the MIT Media Lab where his company, Biom, develops bionic limbs. His biomechanics and electrical systems are extremely sophisticated, so it takes the resources of the MIT Media lab to bring this advanced engineering to life. For example, his team has access to SolidWorks CAD and to 3D printers for custom components.
Speaking with Hugh is inspirational because he sees a future where disability is eradicated. He believes that people like him will be as proud of their bodies as people who are naturally whole. In fact, his experience demonstrates that double amputees like himself can actually perform at a higher level than biological limbs.
At this stage of development the microprocessors and sensors allow for a natural movement, but the users do not actually "feel". That could all change based on research currently under way at the MIT Media lab on implants that will connect to nerve tissue. But even the current version is so tightly matched to the user's anatomy that new users can walk with their new legs in a matter of minutes. As Hugh says, "There is no user manual". The artificial intelligence in the software interprets the sensor data to keep the user automatically balanced and moving.
Right now Hugh has 8 pairs of limbs for different activities from walking to running to mountain climbing. He envisions a future where all of these capabilities will be built into a single prosthetic.
The MIT Media Lab is working on other advancements, including exoskeletons that will reduce the joint damage of athletic activities and superior ways to connect bionic limbs to the body in a more functional and comfortable way.
The next steps for Biom include developing a new battery that will last longer than the current 3,000 step capacity. Hugh also wants them to develop a longer life for the mechanisms themselves, which have a life of less than 5 years.
To date there has been $50M invested into research for Hugh's legs. He intends to continue to refine these bionic prostheses and then make the designs available open source.
Source: http://www.engineering.com/DesignerEdge/DesignerEdgeArticles/ArticleID/7059/Engineer-at-MIT-Media-Lab-Designed-his-own-Bionic-Legs.aspx
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Founded by Russian entrepreneur Dmitry Itskov in February 2011 with the participation of leading Russian specialists in the field of neural interfaces, robotics, artificial organs and systems.
The main goals of the 2045 Initiative: the creation and realization of a new strategy for the development of humanity which meets global civilization challenges; the creation of optimale conditions promoting the spiritual enlightenment of humanity; and the realization of a new futuristic reality based on 5 principles: high spirituality, high culture, high ethics, high science and high technologies.
The main science mega-project of the 2045 Initiative aims to create technologies enabling the transfer of a individual’s personality to a more advanced non-biological carrier, and extending life, including to the point of immortality. We devote particular attention to enabling the fullest possible dialogue between the world’s major spiritual traditions, science and society.
A large-scale transformation of humanity, comparable to some of the major spiritual and sci-tech revolutions in history, will require a new strategy. We believe this to be necessary to overcome existing crises, which threaten our planetary habitat and the continued existence of humanity as a species. With the 2045 Initiative, we hope to realize a new strategy for humanity's development, and in so doing, create a more productive, fulfilling, and satisfying future.
The "2045" team is working towards creating an international research center where leading scientists will be engaged in research and development in the fields of anthropomorphic robotics, living systems modeling and brain and consciousness modeling with the goal of transferring one’s individual consciousness to an artificial carrier and achieving cybernetic immortality.
An annual congress "The Global Future 2045" is organized by the Initiative to give platform for discussing mankind's evolutionary strategy based on technologies of cybernetic immortality as well as the possible impact of such technologies on global society, politics and economies of the future.
Future prospects of "2045" Initiative for society
2015-2020
The emergence and widespread use of affordable android "avatars" controlled by a "brain-computer" interface. Coupled with related technologies “avatars’ will give people a number of new features: ability to work in dangerous environments, perform rescue operations, travel in extreme situations etc.
Avatar components will be used in medicine for the rehabilitation of fully or partially disabled patients giving them prosthetic limbs or recover lost senses.
2020-2025
Creation of an autonomous life-support system for the human brain linked to a robot, ‘avatar’, will save people whose body is completely worn out or irreversibly damaged. Any patient with an intact brain will be able to return to a fully functioning bodily life. Such technologies will greatly enlarge the possibility of hybrid bio-electronic devices, thus creating a new IT revolution and will make all kinds of superimpositions of electronic and biological systems possible.
2030-2035
Creation of a computer model of the brain and human consciousness with the subsequent development of means to transfer individual consciousness onto an artificial carrier. This development will profoundly change the world, it will not only give everyone the possibility of cybernetic immortality but will also create a friendly artificial intelligence, expand human capabilities and provide opportunities for ordinary people to restore or modify their own brain multiple times. The final result at this stage can be a real revolution in the understanding of human nature that will completely change the human and technical prospects for humanity.
2045
This is the time when substance-independent minds will receive new bodies with capacities far exceeding those of ordinary humans. A new era for humanity will arrive! Changes will occur in all spheres of human activity – energy generation, transportation, politics, medicine, psychology, sciences, and so on.
Today it is hard to imagine a future when bodies consisting of nanorobots will become affordable and capable of taking any form. It is also hard to imagine body holograms featuring controlled matter. One thing is clear however: humanity, for the first time in its history, will make a fully managed evolutionary transition and eventually become a new species. Moreover, prerequisites for a large-scale expansion into outer space will be created as well.
Key elements of the project in the future
• International social movement
• social network immortal.me
• charitable foundation "Global Future 2045" (Foundation 2045)
• scientific research centre "Immortality"
• business incubator
• University of "Immortality"
• annual award for contribution to the realization of the project of "Immortality”.
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