SUPERHUMANSFIRST PROSTHETIC TATTOO GUN ARM
In 2016, artist and engineer J L Gonzal created a prosthetic
limb for Lyon-based tattoo artist J C Sheitan Tenet (both
FRA, above) complete with a removable tattoo gun.
Gonzal used parts from an old mechanical typewriter
and a gramophone to give the lightweight prosthetic a
steampunk-inspired look. Tenet, who lost his lower right arm
as a child, uses the gun primarily for shading his designs.FARTHEST
DISTANCE
TRAVELLED USING
A POWERED
EXOSKELETON
In 2005, Monty Reed
(USA) completed the
3.4-mi (5.47-km) Seattle
St Patrick’s Day
Dash fun run in
his “Lifesuit”
exoskeleton
in 95 min. His
average speed
was slightly more than
2 mph (3.2 km/h). Reed
designed and built the
powered robotic suit,
which he conceived of
in 1987 after breaking
his back serving as a
US Army Ranger.FIRST BIONIC
CAMERA- EQUIPPED
FALSE EYE
In 2009, Rob Spence (CAN)
developed a bionic eye
to replace the eyeball he
lost as a child. Known as
“Eyeborg”, it uses a tiny
digital camera inside a
false eye that can record
and wirelessly transmit live
video. One version of the
eye features a red LED light
to resemble the one worn
by the titular cyborg in the
1984 movie The Terminator.FIRST COMPETITION
FOR BIONIC ATHLETES
On 8 Oct 2016, the Swiss Federal Institute of
Technology in Zurich hosted the inaugural
Cybathlon, the first “Bionic Olympics” and the only
competition for people using assisted bionic
prosthetics. It featured races involving a
variety of activities, from doing laundry
to overcoming a range of obstacles, and
attracted 66 teams and 400 competitors from
various countries. Unlike Paralympians, Cybathlon
entrants use powered prosthetics (see above).FIRST PROSTHETIC LIMB BASED ON A VIDEOGAME
Conceived in Apr 2015 and completed on 1 Jun 2016, the
“Jensen arm” created by the UK company Open Bionics is
the first functional artificial limb based on a videogame.
Owned and worn by gamer Daniel Melville (UK), it is a copy
of the one worn by Adam Jensen in Deus Ex, a cyberpunk
videogame series set in a futuristic era of transhumanist
body upgrades. The 3D-printed limb took around one month
to make, from rendering to being made wearable.
Some Cybathlon
entrants use
exoskeletons, robotic
limbs and electric
wheelchairs. Others use
technology to stimulate
paralysed muscles,
enabling them to race
recumbent bikes.MOST MIND-CONTROLLED
PROSTHETIC LIMBS
In Dec 2014, Leslie Baugh
(USA), who lost his arms in
an accident, became the first
person to manipulate two
nerve-controlled bionic arms.
The arms were developed by
Johns Hopkins University
in Maryland, USA. Baugh
underwent surgery in
which the nerves that had
controlled his limbs were
redirected to work with the
prosthetic arms. He then
trained his mind to work with
the limbs until he could move
each arm independently.