- Title: Designer gives extra digits the thumbs-up
- Date: 24th July 2017
- Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UK (JULY 11, 2017) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF DANI CLODE EXPLAINING THE MECHANISM (SOUNDBITE) (English) DANI CLODE, DESIGNER OF THE THIRD THUMB, SAYING: "Some wearers see it as a tool, as an everyday tool that they need and they use and then other people name their prosthetic and they have a different kind of relationship and it is that big gradient between that really unique relationship between a prosthetic and the body that I wanted to try and understand." DANI'S FEET CONTROLLING THE THIRD THUMB VARIOUS OF THE THIRD THUMB DANI'S FEET VARIOUS OF DANI WORKING ON THE THIRD THUMB
- Embargoed: 7th August 2017 10:33
- Keywords: third thumb Dani Clode Royal College of Art RCA 3D printed
- Location: LONDON, ENGLAND, UK
- City: LONDON, ENGLAND, UK
- Country: United Kingdom
- Topics: Science
- Reuters ID: LVA0046R2TWM3
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: If you've ever thought you needed more thumbs, you're in luck. A radical new prosthetic thumb can give you just that.
The brainchild of Dani Clode, a product design student at London's Royal College of Art, she calls her Third Thumb a 3D printed human hand extension controlled by the feet.
"It's an exploration into human extension and human augmentation, as well as better understanding the connection that develops between body and prosthetic technology," she told Reuters.
"First off I did come across the origin of the word prosthesis and I found that it meant in addition to so I really like this idea of reframing prosthetics as extensions to the body rather than anything that fixes or replaces because I think that's really important and a lot of people view it as a way of fixing somebody but we're not, we're just extending their current ability of their body."
The thumb straps on a like a wrist watch and is controlled wirelessly by sensors worn in your shoes.
Two motors connected to cables instead of muscles pull against the natural resistance of a flexible 3D printed material, dispensing with the hinges that prosthetic thumbs normally employ.
Clode says she is fascinated by the human hand and wanted to experience for herself the relationship between a wearer and their prosthetic.
"Some wearers see it as a tool, as an everyday tool that they need and they use and then other people name their prosthetic and they have a different kind of relationship and it is that big gradient between that really unique relationship between a prosthetic and the body that I wanted to try and understand," she said.
Clode says there are no plans to copyright or market the Third Thumb and she sees it more as a thought piece and catalyst for discussion. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2017. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None