There have been major advances in prosthetics in recent years, both in design and functionality. But for kids who need them, adjusting to the stigma can be even more challenging.
Lego has now designed a way for kids to have fun and build upon their prosthetic arm so it becomes less of a disability and more of a form of playful expression. What was once a just an arm could end up being a spaceship or a claw. The design, called Iko, was created by Carlos Arturo Torres and is geared toward kids ranging in age from three to 12 – very formative years when it comes to developing self-esteem.
“My friends in psychology used to tell me that when a kid has a disability, he is not really aware of it until he faces society,” Torres told Wired. “That’s when they have a super rough encounter.”
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Wired explained how the arm works:
Iko lets kids build the Lego creations they need on a pop-and-lock connector terminal on the forearm component. The base, which connects to the upper arm of the missing limb, contains a battery, a processor, and myoelectric sensors that detect muscle movement and transfer it to whatever is on the end of the Iko arm, whether it’s a Mindstorms robot or an articulated hand. A charging station juices the base’s battery.
Torres, a Chicago-based Colombian designer, created the concept for Iko during an internship at Lego’s Future Lab. The design is still in early prototyping stage, but Torres said that he was inspired by Lego’s affect on kids, and this type of prosthetic could actually make kids who have lost limbs social magnets.
