It may not look as sleek as the luscious limbs of Chris Bowers, but it has the ability to do in the real world what her appendages can only do with the help of Hollywood special effects, namely function as well if not better than a biological human arm.
It is from a company called Festo, which specializes in a type of automation actuator called Fluidic Muscle. The firm has augmented this breakthrough technology with a second one involving piezo-proportional valves that allow incredibly precise control of the Fluidic Muscles to a level that approximates human fine-controlled movements of the hand and arm. To see what this all adds up to in humanic cyborg terms, please watch this Flash video of the system in action.
Although the company itself sees this technology as applying to the hazardous environment automation sector, we believe here at Reflections that this level of fine control will make its way into replacement prosthetics as well as exoskeleton enhancers very very quickly. (Images courtesy of Festo, Inc.)
