The new prosthetics have sensors in the feet which send signals to the remaining limb. These signals give feedback about when the foot strikes the ground, allowing users to walk faster and with more confidence.
The signals from the feet are fed into the user’s knee.
The new technology has been tested on two people. While this is a ridiculously small sample size, results have been promising. In addition to increased performance the two users also reported less phantom limb pain.
This is a breakthrough technology that could lead to some interesting scenarios around uploaded consciousness. How much of a body is required to receive the signals? Instead of connecting to the knee, what if it connected to the hip? Then, what if a whole body connected into a brain? If consciousness could be duplcicted, could this lead to androids?
Also, what about mech suits that could increase human’s capabilities?
There is a lot of runway here.
