Using a smartphone as its computer, and 3D printed parts for much of the hardware, exiii seemed to have quite the innovative piece of machinery on their hands. Yesterday, exiii announced the release of the open source design files and data for their latest and greatest bionic hand, the HACKberry.
“We released the design data of HACKberry, our latest 3D-printed bionic hand, as open source for the purpose of speeding up the development through participation of cooperators from all over the world,” a representative from exiii explained. “In addition, we hope that cooperators will deliver this artificial arm to those we cannot reach ourselves due to distance and other constraints.”
“The name represents our vision to ‘hack’ at problems, grow branches of joy that reach out to users and enable their ideas and efforts to bear fruit (‘berries’),” they explain. “Through the trial use of HACKberry in the users everyday lives, we aim to discover new problems and issues for further improvement.”
The HACKberry has several new features when compared to its predecessor, the Handii. It has a very flexible wrist that allows for more “expressive” movements, as well as a smaller palm, making it more attractive for women to wear, and it is compatible with digital camera batteries, which ensures that it lasts long on each charge and is entirely safe for its subject to wear.
All of the open source files can be found on the exiii GitHub page. This includes 3D data for printing and source codes for software, as well as hand, sensor, and battery substrate data and more.
This is truly an incredible 3D printed prosthetic hand, which may quite quickly become a sensation among those individuals who find the price of traditional prostheses way too high. What do you think about this device? Discuss in the exiii HACKberry forum thread on 3DPB.com. Check out the incredible video demonstrations of this hand below.