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Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Tech World Applauds UW Graduate's Development of a Prosthetic Tentacle Arm

Posted by Cienna Madrid on Tue, Dec 21, 2010 at 9:53 AM

Kaylene Kau, a recent graduate of the University of Washington's Industrial Design Department, has created a prosthetic arm that functions like an octopus tentacle instead of a human hand, making it better for gripping objects than previous arm prostheses.

Via Komonews.com:

The user simply puts the tentacle in place, hits the switch, and it curls around whatever you might want to carry. The other switch unfurls the arm.

"The basic functions it does are holding things down, grasping and gripping," Kau says. "You can control the amount of curl it does, and it can curl around quite a few objects."

Kau, and others worry that single-armed people will balk at having a tentacle prosthesis because it's a bit freaky looking. That's a matter of taste, I guess, but it doesn't negate how exciting the invention is. Like South African sprinter Oscar Pistorius's hotly debated prosthetic blade leg (which, some argue, make him too fast to compete with Olympians), Kau has changed the template from prostheses that badly mimic the lost limb to something that, while inhuman looking, is more cheap to produce and efficient for the wearer.

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Comments (11) RSS

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So, should we start calling her "Doc Oc"?

Posted by COMTE

on December 21, 2010 at 9:56 AM

"Kau, and others worry that single-armed people will balk at having a tentacle prosthesis because it's a bit freaky looking."

I don't know about you, but I'm already planning my freak accident in which I lose both arms.

Posted by MacCrocodile

on December 21, 2010 at 10:03 AM

Iä! Iä! Cthulhu Fhtagn!

Posted by Joe Szilagyi

on December 21, 2010 at 10:08 AM

Please advise as to opening date of new porn flic featuring fully functioning TENTACLES!
thx

Posted by BiCycleRider on December 21, 2010 at 10:10 AM

Homo Evolutis!

Posted by Sheree Peña on December 21, 2010 at 10:19 AM

hey baby...

Posted by aardvark on December 21, 2010 at 10:23 AM

Not to diminish the medical/rehabilitative impact or be vulgar, but a tentacle strap-on would be a kick-ass sex toy.

Posted by Mike on December 21, 2010 at 10:44 AM

Damn I love transhumanism.

Posted by OuterCow on December 21, 2010 at 11:27 AM

Yeah, 'cause a hook looks less freaky. Viva tentacles!

(And Cienna: "more cheap"? How about "cheaper"?)

Posted by starsandgarters on December 21, 2010 at 12:11 PM

This is another example of how all the most useful technological innovations result not by mimicking human (or even biological) capabilities but by taking advantage of the technology's own non-human capabilities to serve human needs. Computers (just lots and lots of 0s and 1s, not "thinking"), planes (air foils and jets, not flapping). We have robots that can build entire cars from scratch, but they don't look human, while we struggle to make a robot that walks upright (and then squeal in delight when we kinda sorta succeed). Basically, all the science fiction writers got it wrong.

Posted by Moag on December 21, 2010 at 3:03 PM

soooo japanese tentacle rape porn has a new facet to explore. just remember everything in japan want's to rape you ,everything !

Posted by THE ERIC CARTMAN on December 21, 2010 at 4:51 PM