In our everyday lives, two hands are enough for our daily tasks, but I’m sure that everyone has once in their life wished they had extra limbs to help them with one of their tasks. Just imagine an extra limb help you solder a delicate board, or attending a call while sending out an important email. This is why a team of Japanese engineers developed a solution for this called the MetaLimbs. It’s a set of robotic arms that serve as your extra limbs which are controlled by your feet and knees. Watch this video here:
Source: YouTube, InamiLaboratory
The researchers are from the Inami Laboratory based at the University of Tokyo. The MetaLimbs, of Multiple Arts Interaction Metamorphism, is a set of robotic arms that are situated behind you and reach around under your true ams and are controlled by sensors attached to your legs.
Source: The Verge
The robotic arm movement is directed using positional tracking balles on the knees and feet. A sock device allows the movement of your toes so that you can control the grasp of the robot hands. The robot hands also have haptic sensors that generate feedback on your feet. These extension limbs are designed to be used while sitting down, there are some instances where it can be used standing.
Source: New Atlas
Source: New Atlas
The researchers are going to present the device in Los Angeles in the SIGGRAPH2017, an upcoming conference on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques from July 30 to August 3, 2017.
You can see by watching the video that it can take a while to master how to perfectly control the robotic arms using your legs. It’s certainly not advisable for extremely delicate tasks like surgery, or scratching your eye. But for general tasks, these limbs can surely give a helping hand.
Article Source:
