3 ms·

This is the best version of our future. Young people realizing that technology has reached a point where individuals can create new things, not for a paycheck b

This is the best version of our future. Young people realizing that technology has reached a point where individuals can create new things, not for a paycheck but because they improve our own and each other's lives. You think Uber disrupted the taxi industry? One kid just disrupted an entire branch of biomedical engineering. Of course, this could easily be followed up by the worst version of our future, where work like this comes to be expected and demanded of our best and brightest with no appreciation for their efforts. Act wisely, humans!

maxerickson 9y ago
I really hope the hand is just an impressive high school project and that the father also has access to a state of the art prosthetic from the VA. He should.
- sramam 9y ago
  wonder which one the Dad would be prouder to wear?!
  - vectorEQ 9y ago
    if it was concerning an actual limb of mine, i'd say utility would go over pride on that one :/ pride has a limited scope tbh. he can be proud of his sons acheivement and not wear it thats totally ok..
  - corpMaverick 9y ago
    I know it is a rhetorical question. But there is a practical answer. The article said that it was designed to play video games. So he would use that one for that purpose and the other one for general use. The gist is that now we are able to design affordable things for specific purposes.
    - simonh 9y ago
      I agree it sounded that way from the way they edited it, but the video game controller adapter made the controller usable with one hand. It was a separate project from the arm, the video shows his father playing a video game with his left hand, while his right arm is visible with no prosthetic on it.
- cicero 9y ago
  This story[1] shows the prosthetic that he received at the time of his injury, but it does not have a hand that can grip a baseball. 1: http://abcnews.go.com/US/teen-builds-baseball-throwing-prosthetic-arm-father-injured/story?id=53683928 http://abcnews.go.com/US/teen-builds-baseball-throwing-prost...
  - maxerickson 9y ago
    There's really no information given about whether he continued to use a hook or whether he is using a more advanced prosthetic. Not being able to throw a baseball could still be a limitation of a more advanced prosthetic.
- cptskippy 9y ago
  I doubt his father would receive anything approaching state of the art. The VA doesn't hand out Lamborginis they hand out Hondas. 3d Printed prosthetic are nothing new and it doesn't sound like the kid designed his own from scratch prosthetic, he just used an existing model. As you alluded to in your comment, Commercially available prosthetics are superior however 3d printed ones offer several advantages. A 3d printed prosthetic is orders of magnitude less expensive which means an individual can have multiple specifically suited units instead of one or perhaps 2 expensive prosthesis. The Nintendo Switch prosthesis shown in the video is a great example, it's far more functional for playing the Switch than any commercial prosthesis. They're infinitely easily customized which has numerous advantages both in function and in appearance. For a child, a prosthesis can be a source of shame because kids are beyond cruel. A custom 3d printed prosthesis can be the difference between being made fun of and being admired. https://www.theverge.com/2015/3/13/8207133/3d-printed-iron-man-prosthetic-limbitless-solutions https://www.theverge.com/2015/3/13/8207133/3d-printed-iron-m...
otakucode 9y ago
The shakeup that society will experience from computers and the Internet has not even begun to quake things to their core. The Industrial Revolution invented the idea of the adolescent as a separate class of human. The technological future might very well remove it. While there might arguably be a need for adolescents to be physically strong and capable of physical endurance to work assembly lines and similar.... what teenager couldn't do mental work? They write code on their free time, but can't do it for pay? Unlikely. More likely they will begin illegally working 'under the table' online and eventually be made official, alongside enfranchisement in terms of suffrage and general societal respect. And that's just one little change. The Industrial Revolution also changed how families were structured, how children were parented, how society saw itself, how homes were built, and a multitude of other things. We'll see similar changes... eventually. Maybe. We're a bit more self-aware this time... and there are old cronies with empires on the line larger than wars have been fought over before... so we shall see.

maxerickson 9y ago

I really hope the hand is just an impressive high school project and that the father also has access to a state of the art prosthetic from the VA. He should.

sramam 9y ago
wonder which one the Dad would be prouder to wear?!
- vectorEQ 9y ago
  if it was concerning an actual limb of mine, i'd say utility would go over pride on that one :/ pride has a limited scope tbh. he can be proud of his sons acheivement and not wear it thats totally ok..
- corpMaverick 9y ago
  I know it is a rhetorical question. But there is a practical answer. The article said that it was designed to play video games. So he would use that one for that purpose and the other one for general use. The gist is that now we are able to design affordable things for specific purposes.
  - simonh 9y ago
    I agree it sounded that way from the way they edited it, but the video game controller adapter made the controller usable with one hand. It was a separate project from the arm, the video shows his father playing a video game with his left hand, while his right arm is visible with no prosthetic on it.
cicero 9y ago
This story[1] shows the prosthetic that he received at the time of his injury, but it does not have a hand that can grip a baseball. 1: http://abcnews.go.com/US/teen-builds-baseball-throwing-prosthetic-arm-father-injured/story?id=53683928 http://abcnews.go.com/US/teen-builds-baseball-throwing-prost...
- maxerickson 9y ago
  There's really no information given about whether he continued to use a hook or whether he is using a more advanced prosthetic. Not being able to throw a baseball could still be a limitation of a more advanced prosthetic.
cptskippy 9y ago
I doubt his father would receive anything approaching state of the art. The VA doesn't hand out Lamborginis they hand out Hondas. 3d Printed prosthetic are nothing new and it doesn't sound like the kid designed his own from scratch prosthetic, he just used an existing model. As you alluded to in your comment, Commercially available prosthetics are superior however 3d printed ones offer several advantages. A 3d printed prosthetic is orders of magnitude less expensive which means an individual can have multiple specifically suited units instead of one or perhaps 2 expensive prosthesis. The Nintendo Switch prosthesis shown in the video is a great example, it's far more functional for playing the Switch than any commercial prosthesis. They're infinitely easily customized which has numerous advantages both in function and in appearance. For a child, a prosthesis can be a source of shame because kids are beyond cruel. A custom 3d printed prosthesis can be the difference between being made fun of and being admired. https://www.theverge.com/2015/3/13/8207133/3d-printed-iron-man-prosthetic-limbitless-solutions https://www.theverge.com/2015/3/13/8207133/3d-printed-iron-m...

otakucode 9y ago

The shakeup that society will experience from computers and the Internet has not even begun to quake things to their core. The Industrial Revolution invented the idea of the adolescent as a separate class of human. The technological future might very well remove it. While there might arguably be a need for adolescents to be physically strong and capable of physical endurance to work assembly lines and similar.... what teenager couldn't do mental work? They write code on their free time, but can't do it for pay? Unlikely. More likely they will begin illegally working 'under the table' online and eventually be made official, alongside enfranchisement in terms of suffrage and general societal respect. And that's just one little change. The Industrial Revolution also changed how families were structured, how children were parented, how society saw itself, how homes were built, and a multitude of other things. We'll see similar changes... eventually. Maybe. We're a bit more self-aware this time... and there are old cronies with empires on the line larger than wars have been fought over before... so we shall see.