Amputees use new, naturalistic sensory device at home for daily tasks, gain greater sense of personal well-being and connection to loved ones<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Paralyzed people might one day be able to operate smartphones and tablets just by thinking about the actions they want to perform, with help from sensors implanted in their brains, a recent experiment suggests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the first known study of how amputees use advanced sensory-enabled prostheses outside the lab, subjects used a mechanical hand more regularly and for longer periods of time compared to traditional prostheses\u2014and also reported a greater sense of psychosocial well-being.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In fact, the study asserts that sensory feedback\u2014achieved by direct interfaces attached to the nerves \u2014fundamentally changed how the study participants used their mechanical attachment, \u201ctransforming it from a sporadically used tool into a readily and frequently used \u2018hand.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n