Ever wanted to take control of your (or better, sombody else’s) body via electrical signals, University of Tokyo’s research exprerimented about this.
The experimental device is actually called the PossessedHand, and controls your digits by shooting small electric currents into your wrist via electrodes strapped to your forearm. The PossessedHand runs on an Arduino micro-controller, and can auto calibrate itself to make sure it is twitching the corrects fingers and muscles inside your hand.
The theory is that the PossessedHand could be used to teach people to play musical instruments by training their fingers to move correctly. I’m not sure that this simple, mindless repetition would actually work without involving the brain. After all, “muscle memory” doesn’t actually reside in the muscles.
It could, however, have medical benefits, teaching patients to use their hands again after strokes or accidents, and it would make a great gag gift to freak people out at parties.
Just make sure that the controls don’t get into the wrong hands (pun intended). Otherwise you, like Ash, could end the being strangled by your own hand.
thanks to Francesco for the link, via [Wired] via [Psyorg] source [Reikimoto Lab]
I spent today at EYEO Festival in Minneapolis, a really cool interactive conference with an awesome makery twist. One of the seminars was Sparkfun’s introduction of a sweet new Arduino configuration they call the ProtoSnap. The cost was a hilariously low $20, but they were donating all the money to the Science Museum of Minnesota.
The basic idea is that you can snap apart all the components like, Arduino Pro Mini, buzzer, switch, and so on. Mysteriously, the ProtoSnap doesn’t have a web page or catalog entry for it yet, nor has Sparkfun sent out a press release. Eventually, presumably, they’ll sell ‘em but who knows how much they’ll be?
Shown uppermost is the first prototype of a handheld artillery spotting device developed as a student capstone project at West Point. The blue board to upper left is pretty clearly an Arduino Mega. You can see, in the near upper corner of that board, where the DC power jack has been desoldered and the pads hardwired (presumably) to a battery pack.. The system, called DemonEye, is now reportedly undergoing field testing:
West Point cadet Derek Wales, an electrical engineering major, was watching Internet video of a firefight in Afghanistan and saw that U.S. soldiers pinpointing enemy snipers for artillery fire were fumbling with GPS equipment and compasses. Wales, with fellow EE majors John Eischer and George Hopkins, designed a lightweight target-location module. Called DemonEye, the device incorporates a laser rangefinder, digital compass, GPS and mini computer to calculate target locations rapidly and accurately. Using commercial off-the-shelf components, the DemonEye prototype cost $1,000.
Hack a Day reader and cybersecurity blogger Miguel A. Hernandez gets credit for the spot. Good lookin’ out, Miguel!
