I am imagining initial problems in the OS.. only minor bugs though

"STOP HITTING YOURSELF! STOP HITTING YOURSELF! STOP HITTING YOURSELF!"

Mith

I never knew they had already gotten this far. It's amazing.

Nathan Drake

in the second vid, when Dean said, 'i could punch you' ... did i hear the woman correctly when she said 'please don't... touch me'..????

X D

weak_pig

this guy's amazing.

se.blackheart

Damn Giz, how am I supposed to get any work done, when you post such killer videos.

BadBoyNDSU

WOW!!!!
Amazing technology!
Dean Kamen is the Einstein of out era!

Let's just hope he is Einstein enough to not use Microsoft Vista to run the Luke Arms!!

DocLev

@se.blackheart: Dean is amazing. Nice guy too.

I'm surprised Giz doesn't have any FIRST coverage as it's all about robots.

FlashSandbox

I was part of the FIRST Robotics program for two years. It was an awesome program. I had a blast on the team and wish I could still participate. Dean Kamen has done a great job with it.

Aoi

@weak_pig:

He says, "...punch you,...", and she says, "please don't", and he immediately follows up with "... touch you."

It's a continuation of his sentence bissected by her comment. I can see how that was confusing though.

jhcovert

Dean Kamen is one of the few people in my lifetime that I would truly give a damn to meet. We need more people like him. Drive, passion, vision and the means to make them come true. For his work on this prosthetic limb, for his work on F.I.R.S.T. and for his new water filtration system he deserves a medal. This is exactly the kind of hero, yes hero, who I want to be the role model for America.

Maxxofor

@DocLev:

Edison ... not Einstein. Edison invented things, Einstein researched the basic models.

Big Difference.

Redwraithvienna

Wonder if he would adopt me

taciturnforsale

That is awesome!

Scott

Two words: Fuckin Amazing.

That's all I can say about what they have done.

dicknervous

Amazing, I really thought this was impossible when I first heard about it. Slam the Segway, what not, this guy is brilliant and puts out amazing, helpful products.

jwm1314

@brundlefly76:

I agree in full, as an Apple user Jobs can't compare to the creation and innovention of Kamen.

jwm1314

This video is just so humbling - not just because of the subject matter, but because, as a programmer, which is certainly part inventor, I am in awe of Dean Kamen.

So many of us work with computers because it is easy - we can do our entire work at a desk, in our basement, in our pajamas, and earn a living *incrementally* improving software and websites.

Take a look at Techcrunch sometime to see how many new startups are busying engineers by developing meaningless new facility which no one really needs.

Dean Kamen does something much harder, rarer, and difficult. He takes serious problems in desperate need of solution, which are too difficult to interest most engineers, and not only brings them out into the real world, but also transfixes on the seemingly impossible details and digs into them despite what must be constant horrific frustration.

It is a shame that he got so much grief for the Segway, because from an engineering standpoint it was amazing and I give him all the credit in the world for the *effort*. He also has other breakthrough medical devices to his credit in the past.

JFK once said "we don't do these things because they are easy, we do them because they are hard" - so few of us choose to do the things that are hard.

The failure to do what is hard is why we have 200 new ipods and smartphones released each year, yet only one extraordinary prosthetic.

Call it the 80/20 principal, the appeal of 'low-hanging fruit', or what have you, but Kamen's analysis of the problems of primary education is equally applicable to most engineers as well.

Steve Jobs has no business being the worshipped pseudo-god of invention - Dean Kamen does.

brundlefly76

I love really smart people

dc-united

Pretty amazing.

On a side note, I thought it was kind of sad how at the beginning he's saying that in Iraq you're more likely to get world class medical care than you are in the US...

That's a problem.

se7a7n7

why is this awesome video coming out only now? and why is it in 3 parts? is there a website we can see the whole show in 1 piece?

ggvrsn

Dear god, SOMEBODY get that guy a filmmaker!

I'm very impressed by everything that he's doing, but if he's got unlimited funds from the DOD to build this thing, he could certainly afford to pay a film student a few bucks to take videos that actually demonstrated the things he was talking about.

The parts about looking away to put the cup down, or mapping the XYZ are very poorly demonstrated and I just completely lost my sense of belief when he opened his speech by talking about how the arm in the first video, the one that we've seen for a while teasing this arm, was remote controlled by a guy off camera! How disingenuous is that!?

At least now (after witnessing the D conference presentation) there should be documentary filmmakers and other folks clamoring to work with Dean to record the development and the empowerment of these unfortunate amputees.

crazycarlt

As interesting as this is, I am not at all impressed. When thalidomide caused so many birth defects (remember how long ago that was) my father's department at Bell Northern Research built very similar arms for kids born without. Their research took them from slot car motors, to hydraulic pumps and pistons which the kids were able to control very quickly with great dexterity. There was even an extremely realistic skin that had finger prints and finger nails. The arms were not self contained; the pump and reservoir were worn on a belt, but that made the arms smaller and lighter than these. While they had some myolectric controls, the thalidomide kids often had some sort of digits near the shoulder so keyboards were made to control the valves. Dean Kamen has reinvented the wheel.

SnehalMaravilla

I am an amputee and I am amazed by the technology he's bringing to this industry. I have supposedly one of the top prosthetics available. I don't think it's anything special. It uses touch sensors coordinated with my muscle location; closes when I flex, opens when I relax.

OPRAH

Brilliant and passionate. Dean is the makings of a inspirational genius.

I think he hit in on the head when he said it's a problem of demand and not supply in our education. USA, loosely followed by the rest of the world is turning into zombies. We need to inspire our kids to want to learn. I hope everyone does their part to make it happen. Not everyone is going to be a Shaq or Britney and too many people are dumb enough and dumbed down enough not to realize it.

beyondthetech

@se7a7n7: how is it sad that wounded soldiers get a better care than you or me would get in ER? I don't understand.

monomyth

Not only am I blown away by his robotic arm work, but also, the first thing I see on the FIRST website is the "FIRST Lego League".

Giz, I feel a special exclusive Lego article coming...

Margatron

wow...Dean Kamen amazes me. His inventions are some of the things that make me feel that I am fortunate to be alive to witness such human achievements. His passion for kids and education is making me wake up to my own sense of what humanity is.

joch

Amazing! They're starting a new era; welcome to 21st Century.

NicleT

@monomyth: Of course soldiers should get great health care.

But we should have world class health care in the US too.

se7a7n7

I for one welcome our future skynet overlords.

AnotherJake

Forget about all the BS supernatural claims of miracles, Dean Kamen is a true miracle worker. Whether it's this prosthetic arm, or the iBot wheelchair that can climb and descend stairs and "stand" upright so that the user can speak to another person eye-to-eye, he has created technologies and applications that dramatically improve people's lives. Kamen is a guy who has made a real difference in the world, and he has my deepest admiration.

MikeK

"And the Nobel Peace Prize goes to..."

BigDogues

the 3rd video is awesome.. even when I was in high school (nearly 20 years ago) I wasn't quite a geek but not quite popular, and I didn't follow all the trendy crap, I was building r/c cars and modifying them. I can't imagine how bad the schools are now, but I do know that a lot of older engineers are retiring and the workforce is getting slim. Yeah sure more demand for people like me, but shortages aren't fun either. It's hard to find smart intelligent people these days.

toyotaboy02

Why am I still sat here using these useless human arms?
I want!

mcbazza

@mcbazza: Since you think they're so useless I challenge you to exist for one day with out them. I guarantee you would change you mind the first time you try to use the bathroom.
There will be a very long line at your door ready to swap you at any time you're ready.

BigDogues

Ok. I shall wait for Arms2.1 before I look to upgrade.

mcbazza