Katie Couric Interviews Bionic Arm Inventor Dean Kamen
Back in 1980, when Luke Skywalker was fitted with a robotic limb after losing his hand in the film “Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back,” it was pure science fiction. But what was once fantasy is now a reality.
Inventor Dean Kamen and his team at DEKA Research and Development, based in New Hampshire, have developed “Luke,” a robotic prosthetic arm, aptly nicknamed after Luke Skywalker. The arm is considered a game changer for amputees. “Instead of giving them a metal hook that they can’t do anything with, what if we can give them a bunch of grips to do the things you do in daily living? Pick up a spoon or pick up an electric drill or open a door,” says Kamen.
The idea first came about when the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) approached Kamen about building a better prosthetic for soldiers who have lost an arm in combat. “They said, ‘Give us a real hand that works, that has all the fingers and the thumb that can move in every direction. Give us an arm that really functions,'” says Kamen.
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