This is the third version of the Robotic Hand, courtesy of Thingiverse user Armjunkie. It improves on the original by using fewer non-3D-printable parts, less plastic, and less sanding. The hand also requires less force to move.

I wonder how long it will take for hackers to make their own 3D printed robots. Skynet won’t be far behind, since the technology already exists to make self-replicating robots, ones that are self-aware, and killer ones too.

[via Make:]

Take, for example, this automaton which looks like a human hand.

This  interactive hand sculpture has sort of a steampunk vibe to it, with its structure and mechanical parts made from brass, along with wood accents and the articulating hand itself made from resin.

It kind of reminds me of Thing from The Addams Family, but it’s just a cool mechanical hand that taps impatiently as you turn its hand-crank. Here, check it out in action:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Pretty cool (and a little creepy), no? This very special automaton sculpture was handmade by UK artist automatonman, and is being sold in a limited edition of just 20 over on Etsy. While it does sell for a rather pricy $750 (USD), you’ll be in great company, as one of these already sold to Pan’s Labyrinth/Hellboy director Guillermo del Toro.

They resemble doll hands, which is probably because that’s how etsy seller foliage makes them, by creating molds from doll hands and then making creepy soap. You get 8 hands in different shapes and colors, with sizes ranging from 3/4” to 2” tall for $16 (USD).

If they were holding little gadgets that would make them a bit cute. Hey look, babies holding gadgets! But all I can think of are these hands slowly rising up from a counter and grabbing at me like a horde of Demon babies. How could you ever feel clean using these? Excuse me while I shudder and scrub myself until I feel clean. (Using non-hand hand soap.)

[Via Etsy]

PossessedHand consists of a pair of wrist bands that deliver mild electrical stimuli directly into the muscles that control your fingers, which is something that is usually done by your own brain.

The project initially started as a learning tool for people who want to play string instruments, but it could also help stroke victims regain some control of their affected limbs.

I’m betting Sony will put this to some use as a fancy game controller, where the game controls you. While many people think that Microsoft Kinect will do just fine, Sony still needs to figure out their own unique slant on things.

[via PhysOrg via DVice]

The video from Tokyo’s Ishikawa Oku laboratory explains all of the science and technology behind this incredible robot hand. It uses a hand with only three fingers to perform its feats. This coupled with high-speed sensors allow it to perform stuff that were previously hard for robots to do. I like how it can actually throw a ball onto a target. With that dexterity and accuracy, I’m sure we’ll soon have robot soldiers.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

It makes you wonder what else this project will create, once it comes to fruition.

[via Kottke]

Patrick, a 24-year old Austrian, had lost the use of his hand. Now, thanks to his bionic hand, he can move his fingers once more. The prosthetics are called bionic since use the signals from the patients’ brain and nerves to enact movement. Through the miracle of modern science, Patrick can tie his own shoelaces and open a bottle. Another patient, called “Milo” lost his hand in a motorcycle accident and will soon be fitted with a bionic hand after a voluntary amputation of his right hand.

This stuff seems like it’s out of science fiction, but it’s real. It’s amazing what they can do with these bionic limbs. It won’t take long before people will have all sorts of bionic implants, from feet to eyes. Be sure to check out the videos over at the BBC.

[via Make:]

When the iPhone is placed on top of your palm, an image of a palm (not yours) loads onto the screen, and then you can rub your finger on the touchscreen, tricking your brain into thinking you’re tickling your own palm. In addition, they’ve set up a two-person mode which lets you tickle someone else’s hand from across the room.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

While the visual illusion should be enough to trigger the sensation of being tickled in most people, the addition of vibration (currently done via audio, and not the iPhone’s vibration motor) seals the deal.

The whole idea seems completely surperfluous to me, but mabe there’s some sort of remote interaction idea here which would allow couples to feel each other up from afar. Between this, the remote-kissing machine, and advances in teledildonics, pretty soon you’ll never have to be bothered with actually touching anyone again.

[via DigInfo.TV]

If you want to protect your iPad from drops and keep a better handle on the thing a new case has been unveiled called the HandStand that is really cool and will allow you to use the iPad standing up without worrying you will drop it and break the screen. The HandStand has a strap on the back that goes over the top of your hand to keep the iPad secure.

The strap is connected to a knob that rotates to whatever angle you want so you can use the ipad in portrait or landscape modes. The knob the strap is on also props the screen of the iPad up when you sit it down. The thing is up for pre-order right now for about $60 and should start shipping tomorrow.

GM is talking up R2 again lest we forget how cool the robot actually is. According to GM R2 will be able to use every tool and system on the ISS that human hands were intended to use. It will be able to use them because its dainty little hands have slim thumbs and fingers. The hands on R2 have lots of dexterity as well.

R2 will be able to adjust his grip and pressure to meet any task. This is a really cool robot and the only way it could be any cooler would be if it spoke in a voice like HAL and said “Good Morning Dave” when the astronauts woke up.

The robotic hand features movable polycarbonate “bones,” covered with a too-real skin of fleshtone silicon rubber. Underneath its fleshy exterior each hand is powered by 22 actuators with 16 joints. Here’s a video clip showing off the H-Type hand in all its gripping glory:

Creepy, no? All I can think of is Thing from The Addams Family now – if Thing worked at a sushi bar, that is.

[via Nikkan (JP) via Crunchgear]

The controller duplicates David’s exact moves on a remote robotic hand. The wrist-mounted exoskeleton packs 3 rotational sensors as well as 2 touch sensors. The hand has two fingers and an opposable thumb. It can pick up balls, and other small objects. It can manipulate them quite easily. But unlike more sophisticated medical robotic hands, you wouldn’t want this thing performing surgery on you.

I can just imagine what will happen next. Some guy will get a robotic LEGO hand instead of a prosthetic, becoming the first LEGO bionic man. And we’ll call him the Six Dollar Man.

[via Make:]

The term myo-electric means that the hand is operated using electric signals from the human brain, much like their flesh and bone counterparts. BeBionic’s hands also work almost as smoothly as human hands:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

They could be a tad faster and smoother, but definitely usable, don’t you think? I wonder what Masamune Shirow thinks of BeBionic’s technology. The hand is set to debut at an exhibition in Leipzig, Germany on May 12-15, so we’ll probably have a lot more info then.

[via BotJunkie]

This means that the robot can be as precise or as delicate as a human hand: it can insert thread into a needle’s eye, or pick up eggs or strawberries without crushing them.

More importantly, it’s relatively easy to control, because it can be programmed to imitate the hand movements of a user wearing the company’s sensor glove, the CyberGlove.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Can you see it now? If you do a thumbs-up, it does a thumbs-up. If you make a fist, it makes a fist. We’re are now that much closer to building Daimos! Now all we need is the rest of the body, a couple of powerful fans and someone who has a black belt in karate, and we’re ready to kick some Valerian ass. Moyase, moyase, makka ni moyase…

[via DVICE and Shadow Robot]

This is pretty basic–as strange as it is to refer to motion controlled gaming as basic–considering this glove is just a holder for an accelerometer, so that the tilt and motion of the player’s hand and wrist is used to manipulate the pieces.

You could also just play WiiWare’s Tetris Party, but that’s fancy Tetris, and sometimes you just want simplicity. Simplicity and a wrist wrapped in wiring.

[Tetris glove via HackADay]

The cool.con remote control fits neatly into the palm of your hand, and features a bumpy exterior that’s designed to provide a pressure-point massage to your hand as you sit on the couch flipping through your favorite channels. They’ve even provided this handy palm reflexology diagram to help you get the greatest phony health benefit out of your channel-surfing experience.

Who knew you could get rid of a stomach ache while you watched Law and Order:SVU? Or that you could fix that case of chronic bronchitis as you flip over to an old re-run of Matlock? Who knew?

Currently, the cool.con controller is available only in Korea, where it’s available through Funshop for 15,500 KRW (appx. $13 USD). Maybe the same guys will come out with a hand-massaging iPhone case – I might actually buy one of those.

Just strap the open-fingered glove around your wrist, put your digits through the fingerholes, and get to stretching the tiny elastic exercise bands. By stimulating hard to isolate finger extensor muscles and tendons in your hands, wrists and elbows, you’ll build up hand strength you never knew you had. All the better to kick your ass in Tekken 6 when it comes out this fall.

And even if you’re not constantly glued to your game console, the Xtensor can help you keep your hands, arms and wrists in shape whether you’re an avid golfer, tennis player, spend your days in front of the computer keyboard, or frequently use your hands for (um) something else (nudge, nudge).

So give your fingers a hand and grab an Xtensor hand exerciser over at ThinkGeek for $39.99 (USD).

[via The Gadgeteer via OhGizmo!]

Brazilian designer Anderson Horta’s Clicking Kitchen Grip oven mitts are inspired by the little pixels of the hand cursor from your computer.

It’s too bad that there’s no way to make version that turns into an hourglass or a spinny beachball while your food is cooking, into an arrow when you can’t pick something up, and a closed hand when you grab your pots and pans. Damned non-virtual world!

Still, they’re pretty cool, IMHO. You can get your grubby little mitts on these anything-but-grubby, not-little mitts from Bazar Design for $24,80 Brazilian Real (appx. $11 USD). You can contact them directly for information on international delivery.

[via Designboom via Inspire me, now!]

Just plug your gadgets into this handy hand crank charger and get to cranking. The SUPERBattery from Datexx lets you juice up your electronic gadgets anywhere, anytime by harnessing the power of your arm strength.

In emergency hand crank mode, the SUPERBattery should give you about 2 minutes of talk time on your phone for every 6 minutes of cranking. My arm is getting tired just thinking about it, but it is probably a good idea to keep something like this in your emergency kit if you go camping or even in the back of your car – just in case you run yourself off the road this Winter. As an added bonus, the SUPERBattery includes a built-in flashlight, just in case you’re stuck in the dark.

Of course if you’re not in an crisis situation, can pre-charge the SUPERBattery with the included AC adapter, giving your devices up to 4 hours of juice on a single charge. The kit includes a hand-cranked 600mA rechargeable battery pack, and adapters for over 1,200 different mobile devices including media players, cell phones and handheld video games.

You can find these over at Compact-Impact for just under $30 USD.

Available from Perpetual Kid, the remote-controlled electroluminescent sign ($40) can be set to display a multitude of digit combinations. You can even animate the fingers in sequence. But there are only a couple of signs that I think would be of much use for most of my roadtrips.

I suppose if you’re more mellow than me, you might tell the a-hole behind you to “hang loose”, or you could flash the subtle “L” sign to let them know what a loser they really are. But who are we kidding? I’m pretty sure most of the time you’ll set it to flip the bird to the driver in your rearview mirror.

Speaking of flipping the bird…

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There are four cursor sculptures in the series. They are rendered in three dimensions and made more colorful than we’re used to. The designs on the side are fantastically pixelated and lovely to look at.

The sculptures were created by Ben Fino-Radin, and are made of plastic needlepoint canvas and yarn. He is a big fan of combining technology and yarn in interesting ways. You can see more of his work at his website.

Bringing the hand cursor into 3-D and making it pretty huge is super cool in my book. I’d love to have one of these on display in my office!

[via Craft:]