A new innovation from a United Kingdom-based company called Covvi has found an effective way to address the issue. The ‘Nexus Hand’ will allow its users to perform tasks like holding a glass or opening a door by “electrical impulses from the muscles in the upper arm into movement powered by motors”.It can also be updated at any time by using the in-build Bluetooth technology.

Figure 1: Bionic hand will allow its users to perform various tasks.

Figure 1 shows that the bionic arm will be used by Australian Paralympian Jessica Smith who took part in swimming at the 2004 Athens Paralympics.

"There's always been an association between the fact this prosthetic aid didn't actually help, it created the most traumatic event in my life," researcher told. [1]

"There's always been an association between the fact this prosthetic aid didn't actually help, it created the most traumatic event in my life," she said.But her curiosity was sparked when she was approached by Covvi, based in Leeds, northern England, to try its Nexus hand.

Knowing it would be an emotional challenge, Smith was fitted with the device in April at the age of 37. "I think that I was ready to try something like this," she said.

Bionic hands convert electrical impulses from the muscles in the upper arm into movement powered by motors in the hand, enabling a user to hold a glass, open a door or pick up an egg.

Simon Pollard, who founded Covvi five years ago, said he wanted to add Bluetooth to the device to allow the company's specialists to update it via an app.

"The fact we can change some of the things that the customer wants remotely is a really powerful thing and a first to market," the chief executive said.Some rival bionic hands can be app-controlled.[2]

To do that, anonymised data is collected for every user, a task managed by partner NetApp.Pollard said Covvi had signed up 27 distributors globally, including in Australia, China and the United States, and he aimed to increase monthly production to 100.

“I asked Covvi this morning, and I know that will be done in the next couple of hours.”She said the tech was not just changing her life, it was changing the lives of her three children. “They think it’s amazing and I’m like half human-half robot,” she said. The “bionic” appearance of the hand was an attraction, given her pride in difference.

References:

1. https://www.wionews.com/science/this-bionic-arm-can-be-updated-with-new-gestures-anytime-and-anywhere-507409
2. https://www.reuters.com/technology/bionic-hand-can-be-updated-with-new-gestures-anytime-anywhere-2022-08-16/
3. https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/leisure/2022/08/17/uk-firms-bionic-hand-can-be-updated-with-new-gestures-remotely/

Cite this article:

Sri Vasagi K (2022), Bionic Hand Can Be Updated Instantly, Anatechmaz, pp.170