Thursday, August 11, 2011

Herr – Designer of His Own Limbs

 Updated 3/2017-- photos and all links (except to my own posts) removed as many no longer active.

Yesterday, I was able to catch the interview on NPR’s Fresh Air of Hugh Herr by Terry Gross:  The Double-Amputee Who Designs Better Limbs  (photo credit)
It’s worth reading or listening to.  Here’s the beginning:
Hugh Herr's legs were amputated below his knees in 1982 after a climbing accident. From his knees down to the floor, he's completely artificial.
"I'm titanium, carbon, silicon, a bunch of nuts and bolts," he tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross. "My limbs that I wear have 12 computers, five sensors and muscle-like actuator systems that able me to move throughout my day."
But Herr doesn't just wear artificial legs. He designs them, too. As the director of the Biomechatronics Group at the MIT Media Lab, Herr and his team are responsible for creating prosthetic devices that feel and act like biological limbs. They are also one of the subjects in Frank Moss' new book, The Sorcerers and Their Apprentices: How the Digital Magicians of the MIT Media Lab are Creating the Innovative Technologies That Will Change Our Lives.
Moss, the former head of the MIT Media Lab, profiles several of the researchers who are working on inventions that could change the way we move, socialize and interact with computers.  ……….


Related posts:
Rejection  (December 1, 2010)
Facing Monday  (January 24, 2011)

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