[HN Gopher] I have one of the most advanced prosthetic arms in t...
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I have one of the most advanced prosthetic arms in the world - and
I hate it
Author : randycupertino
Score : 17 points
Date : 2021-03-06 21:18 UTC (1 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.inputmag.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.inputmag.com)
| neolog wrote:
| > It was only three pounds or so, but three pounds feels like a
| ton to a limb that typically carries no weight, and the heft of
| the prosthetic hand pulled hard on the socket and made me sweat.
| In order to open and close, myoelectric hands require that you
| flex your muscles where sensors inside of the socket can detect
| your movement.
|
| I wonder how much of the problem is because those muscles are
| underdeveloped.
| pineaux wrote:
| Just walk around with a 3 pound weight strapped to your arm and
| tell me how it feels afterwards.
| neolog wrote:
| That's a bit heavier than a large water bottle. 1 liter water
| is 1 kg = 2.2 lbs. Definitely wouldn't make me sweat.
| tdubhro1 wrote:
| Having lived with a relative who used a prosthetic, I saw how it
| was a struggle every day to get the leg fitting just right, and
| how fatiguing it was to use for more than an hour. The popular
| perception seems to be way off here, most people think that
| modern prosthetics "solve the problem" when in fact, as this
| article explains, they are inconvenient and painful at best and
| worse than useless in many cases. I've got great respect for
| prosthetists and the "art" side of their work - the dozens of
| adjustments they make for each patient - but people should be
| aware of just how much time, effort, pain and inconvenience
| prosthetics cause their wearers, the technology is impressive but
| has a very long way to go.
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(page generated 2021-03-06 23:01 UTC)