Lego Prosthetics For Kids!

Lego-enabled prosthetic arm allows kids to build their own limb attachments.

16:39 15 July 2015

A Columbian designer has developed a prosthetic arm for child amputees allowing them build their own limbs using Lego. Carlos Torres designed the prosthetic arm to let children swap the end part of the arm for whatever they fancy from robot gripper to spaceship that fire laser beam.

 

"Missing a limb shouldn't be a disability for a kid when you have the opportunity to explore and augment their potential by creating, playing and learning," Torres said about the system.

 

Torres and specialists at Lego worked closely to make the prosthetic arm not just functional but in a way that it could be explored in a playful way.

 

“Lego sets are something you can build with friends and your family,” Torres said.

“Something that is that social made me think of one of the biggest challenge kids in disability have when facing society."

 

The prosthetic arm was tested on an eight-year-old boy, Dario, who had his arm amputated after birth.

 

"The spaceship was very easy to build and was aimed to involve Dario's friend. I gave them some bricks for free building and they made a sort of communication antenna for space invaders that could shoot lasers!” said Torres.