There are several types of bionic arms that work quite efficiently and help us perform our daily chores and activities. What if we could enhance the function of those limbs by giving them vision?

Dr. Kianoush Nazarpour, a senior lecturer in biomedical engineering at Newcastle University is busy developing an “Intuitive” hand that can sense the shape of the object that needs to be picked up, and adjusts its grip accordingly. The hand has a camera attached to it that provides the “vision” – the ability to detect the shape of the object it is about to pick up. This vision is then externally processed and within milliseconds, the hand forms the appropriate grip for the object and picks it up. The hand forms four types of grips – Pinch (for small objects like nuts), Tripod (for round objects like balls), Palmer wrist pronated (remote or a box), and palm wrist neutral (for bottles).

The Intuitive hand was tested with a set of amputee volunteers. The team working on it plans to integrate it with the nervous system so the hand could provide pressure and temperature information to the brain as well.

Watch the video below to see how it works.

Source: Engadget