After a fair bit of tinkering, Torres developed a functioning prototype of a prosthetic that lets kid use their imagination to build their own arm(Credit: Carlos Arturo Torres/Umeå Institute of Design)For Colombian designer Carlos Torres, how to best tackle the low self-esteem and social isolation felt by child amputees is about more than finding the the most advanced prosthetic money can buy. His IKO Creative Prosthetic System is aimed at unleashing the creative expression of those with missing limbs, and to do so he's enlisting every child's favorite building blocks. The result is an artificial limb where kids can swap robotic grippers for laser-shooting spaceships whenever the opportunity arises. Amputees are all too common in Torres' homeland, where civil war has wreaked havoc and seen the huge buildup of landmines over the last half a century. Though non-profits like (Ingetral Center for Rehabilitation of Colombia) CIREC have been producing prostheses for children for more than 30 years, Torres believes injecting a little playtime into process can seriously aid in rehabilitation and help overcome the trauma of such life-changing events.
In arriving at the final design for his the IKO Prosthetic System, Torres conducted comprehensive research including interviews in Colombia with orthopedic technicians, clinical psychologists and occupational therapists. Taking this knowledge of the importance of a patient's social circles and how it impacts their self-esteem development, Torres then jetted off to the Lego Future Lab in Denmark, the toy company's mystical research and development lab. Here he tapped into the Lego brains trust and formulated a design to bring his ideas to life. "During my time working in Lego Future lab I realized that you can pretty much can build anything you want with Lego," he explains to Gizmag. "But the key feature of the system for me, is that Lego sets are something you can build with friends and your family. Something that is that social made me think of one of the biggest challenge kids in disability have when facing society."So with quite a bit of tinkering, Torres finally developed a functioning prototype of a prosthetic that lets kid use their imagination, and their family's, to build their own arm.
The interface houses a battery, charging port, processor unit and a pair of myoelectric sensors that track the movement of the stump and convert it into a signal. A separate muscle component then receives these signals and, equipped with a motor and Lego connectors, carries different attachments on the end. Torres then flew to Bogota to test out the design on an eight-year-old Colombian boy named Dario, who had suffered a congenital malformation and had his right arm amputated as a result. On the lighter side, one of the Lego sets Torres brought along was a spaceship fitted with a laser-imitating light brick. On the slightly more practical, but still awesome side was a construction backhoe, which required a power function compatible with the that of the muscle module. Torres says the testing exceeded his expectations and he is starting the process of developing a commercial product. He was unable to give any hints on what such a system might cost, but says they are hopeful it will become available sometime between December 2016 and mid-2017.
You can see Dario put the prosthetic through its paces in the video below. Source: Umeå Institute of Design Published on September 26th, 2015 | At the last IKEA sale, the RIBBA picture ledge was marked down and I grabbed two of them, without knowing what I would do with them. So I did a search on it and lo and behold, found so many interested uses for it. Some that even I had forgotten. The advantage of the picture ledge is its width. It’s so slim it can practically fit anywhere, as you will see from these awesome hacks and unusual ideas. All pretty easy to DIY too. When you don’t have a spacious landing, a RIBBA picture Ledge can work wonders. Use it to catch your mail and keys. Go one step further with a customized LEGO key holder. Click to see complete tutorial. It is wide enough for regular wine bottles and the lower lip stops the bottles rolling off. Carol mounted the ledges up on her kitchen alcove, making use of the space and keeping the bottles out of sight.
Click to see it. Add a GRUNDTAL rail to the underside of the RIBBA picture ledge and you’ve doubled its usefulness. Spice jars go on top, utensils under. Mount the RIBBA picture ledges all around the room to give your cat a skyway to run on. And a cool place to perch and ignore humans. See the full post here. Use the RIBBA ledge to display your collections. See how it’s done. A RIBBA picture ledge and LEDBERG LED lights make an unusual light fixture. Mount a RIBBA picture ledge — sideways — to the KURA bed’s side panel and you have a space to slot all your kid’s favourite bedtime books. See how it’s done here.Attach 2 picture ledges to a board and DIY your own mini bookshelf. Just the right height for tods. Click for complete tutorial. Prop up your monitor with this sleek monitor stand made from a shelf and sized down RIBBA ledges. Minimal, almost zen like tablet stand. Build a cheap and easy wall-mounted tool rack. Take a RIBBA Picture Ledge and put a lot of holes into it.
No fancy pants bike rack here. Just two RIBBA picture ledges, a nylon rope and a carabiner. See the full post here.NYCC 2016: 17 Pictures of The LEGO Batman Movie Toys The LEGO Batman Movie isn't out until next year, but it's never too early for collectors to start scoping out new sets. Lucky for you collectors at home, we got a look at the LEGOs of the movie about Batman, who is himself a LEGO, which isn't actually as confusing as it sounds. Here's a handy-dandy slideshow of what we saw out on the show floor in New York: For more on NYCC, bookmark our New York Comic-Con 2016 hub page. Vincent Ingenito is IGN's foremost fighting game nerd. Follow him on Twitter and help him sort out his Street Fighter 5 character crisis.LEGO Contest Pictures & Winners We had a great LEGO contest on Saturday, January 28th with 11 entries submitted. 1st Place – Keller & Atticus Johnston for “Spiderman Brooklyn Bridge” 2nd Place – Rowen Kaufmann for “Dragee” 3rd Place – Nicole Johnson for untitled