Within our lifetimes, we will see replacement limbs exceeding the capabilities of the ones humans are ordinarily born with – already they outperform in certain tasks, but soon they may well be better on all fronts.

In the video below for WIRED, MIT Media Lab’s Hugh Herr explains how he looks to nature when developing new bionic appendages. The amputee and avid rock climber discusses how his biomechatronics division is pioneering the technologies that aim to augment human physical capabilities.

Similar themes are also found in Herr’s TED Talk, in which he discusses building the next generation of bionic limbs, robotic prosthetics inspired by nature’s own designs.

Herr lost both legs in a climbing accident 30 years ago; now, as the head of the MIT Media Lab’s Biomechatronics group, he shows his incredible technology in a talk that’s both technical and deeply personal — with the help of ballroom dancer Adrianne Haslet-Davis, who lost her left leg in the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, and performs again for the first time on the TED stage.

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Virtual reality’s promise of an immersive environment is impressive, but generally incomplete without something like this newly-developed system to let users actually feel the effects of interacting in digitally-created cyberspaces through actual muscle stimulation, a big step beyond low-tech vibrations.

Simulating physical impact, as demonstrated above, combines tactile and muscle stimulation via a device called Impacto. The accessory is worn on arms, legs, hands or feet and tied into the virtual reality experience with specialized software, allowing people to touch and feel objects. Well on its way to being fully wireless (for now it is at least not cord-connected to an external device), it lets users move around in real (and virtual) space without feeling uncumbered or worrying about tripping over cords.

Examples include: feeling the impacts of soccer balls bounced on legs or of punches blocked in a boxing game. “Of note, Impacto isn’t a simple vibrate motor shoved into a plastic box. The device combines a haptic vibration engine with electrical muscle stimulation to actually create a sensation of pushing or pulling, therefore more closely mimicking the feeling of contact from actual physical objects.”

“The key idea that allows the small and light impacto device to simulate a strong hit is that it decomposes the stimulus: it renders the tactile aspect of being hit by tapping the skin using a solenoid; it adds impact to the hit by thrusting the user’s arm backwards using electrical muscle stimulation,” the team, led by Pedro Lopes, said in an abstract covering its research paper on Impacto.

The next step: creating additional add-ons for torsos and other areas of bodies, all toward the eventual goal of a full-body suit for maximum effect. Applications go beyond entertainment and gaming as well – eventually systems like this could allow for remote scientific or medical procedures with haptic feedback for delicate situations.

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A modular twist-and-lock port attached to this customizable prosthetic lets children adapt, modify and create attachments to serve both fun and practical functions.

Developed by Carlos Arturo Torres Tovar of Umeå University in Sweden, the IKO system comes with a default three-fingered grip but it can be swapped for anything created out of LEGO by the child or their friends and family. Thanks to the versatility of the LEGO family of toys, the possibilities are virtually endless.

The attached pieces can be built out to whatever extent desired, lit up by battery power and even motorized, turning missing limbs into a unique chance for creative expression and playful interaction, letting kids build confidence and make new friends (as well as arms). From diggers and space ships to ray guns and spinning fans, if it fits in a child’s imagination it will work on this modifiable appendage.

“Arturo used Lego as the main focus of this Prosthetic project that aims at understanding the mental and psychological aspects of disabled children, especially the ones who have lost one of their limbs or were born without one. Taking a leap from the basic prosthetics that we have seen so far, Arturo’s vision is to engage the disabled kids into building something creative right on their artificial arm and also invite other friends to do so.”

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