Cambridge researchers collaborate with Dani Clode to develop a robotic “Third Thumb”

The Third Thumb, or a 3D-printed robotic prosthetic developed by Dani Clode, an augmentation design company at the University of Cambridge, serves as an additional digit, positioned on the opposite side of the palm from the biological thumb.

This innovative device enhances the user's manual dexterity, allowing them to perform complex tasks that would typically require more than two hands. 

The Third Thumb 

In 2022, the team tested the Third Thumb at the annual Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition.

Science Robotics featured how the team tested 596 participants, ranging in age from three to 96 years old and from a wide range of demographic backgrounds in five days.

The team tested the robotic device on various participants to ensure the new technology is inclusive and can work for everyone.

An emerging area of future technology is motor augmentation, which uses otorised wearable devices, such as exoskeletons or extra robotic body parts, to advance our motor capabilities beyond current biological limitations, are an emerging area of future technology.

While such devices could improve the quality of life for healthy individuals who want to improve their productivity, the same technology can also provide people with disabilities with new ways to interact with their environment.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by DANI CLODE (@dani_clode)

Also read: MoRTH collabs with Uber, Zomato to raise road safety awareness across India (startuppedia.in)

How does the third thumb work?

Control

By applying pressure with their toes, users can move the third thumb side to side or up and down, allowing for a range of movements that mimic natural thumb actions. 

Functionality

The third thumb can assist in various tasks, such as holding multiple objects, stabilising items during assembly, or even playing musical instruments. It enhances the user's carrying capacity and multitasking abilities. 

Professor Tamar Makin from the Medical Research Council (MRC) Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit at the University of Cambridge said: “Technology is changing our very definition of what it means to be human, with machines increasingly becoming a part of our everyday lives, and even our minds and bodies.”

He added: “These technologies open up exciting new opportunities that can benefit society, but it’s vital that we consider how they can help all people equally, especially marginalized communities who are often excluded from innovation research and development. To ensure everyone will have the opportunity to participate and benefit from these exciting advances, we need to explicitly integrate and measure inclusivity during the earliest possible stages of the research and development process.”

Also read: Astrophel Aerospace indigenously builds a cryogenic pump for propelling rocket engines into orbit (startuppedia.in)