In 2009, the CBS news program 60 Minutes profiled Fred Downs, who lost his left arm in Vietnam. Downs, the former National Director of the Veterans Health Administration’s Prosthetic and Sensory Aids Service, had relied upon a hook-style prosthetic for four decades at the time of the 60 Minutes program, when he strapped on a new prototype robotic arm and picked up a bottle of soda and raised it to his lips. In a subsequent episode in 2012, when recalling that moment, Downs became emotional, telling reporter Scott Pelley “the feeling is hard to describe, for the first time in 40 years, my left hand did this [grasping]…it felt so good to move my arm again.” Pelley noted Downs had said “moved my arm again.” Pelley asked if it actually felt like his arm. Downs emphatically responded “it did, it felt like my arm, it was me.”1
The arm that Downs was using was developed by the government’s research division DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency). It carries out multiple, simultaneous powered movements with sensors that let the hand precisely control its grasp.2 It is expected that the next generation prosthetic will provide sensory feedback which will allow the user to feel a grape between his prosthetic fingers.3
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