SoylentNews

Fnord666 [soylentnews.org] writes:

Doctor Otto Octavius may have been a power-mad scientist bent on world domination and the utter ruin of his nemesis, Spider-Man, but the guy had some surprisingly cogent thoughts on prosthetics development. And although mind-controlled supernumerary robotic limbs like Doc Oc's still only exist in the realm of the Marvel Universe, researchers here in reality are getting pretty darn close to creating their own. And in the near future, we'll be strapping on extra appendages whenever we need a helping hand -- or supplemental third thumb.

Supernumerary Robotic Limbs (SRLs) are not prosthetics. They are designed to supplement a person's existing full complement of limbs as opposed to replacing the lost functionality of a missing one. That's not to say that an amputee couldn't use one of these devices, simply that they're meant to be used as add-ons to human protuberances instead of stand-ins for them.

Don't expect to toss cars around like throw pillows while wearing an SRL rig. Well, not initially at least (keep those fingers crossed, though). Rather, they're built to help people perform tasks that would otherwise be irritating, difficult or outright impossible without them -- like twisting a doorknob while carrying armfuls of moving boxes or holding a ceiling panel in place while you nail it in. So, rather than get yourself a helper, you could soon instead get a pair of MIT's shoulder-mounted SRLs [ieee.org].

Source: EnGadget [engadget.com]

Original Submission