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It’s absolutely unnecessary stuff, and I love it.This ‘third thumb’ is the unnecessary prosthetic of my dreams
The thumb straps on to the side of your hand, and connects to a bracelet containing wires and servos. The wearer controls it using pressure sensors that sit under the soles of their feet. If they press down with one foot the thumb will make a grasping movement, with these instructions sent to the wrist unit via Bluetooth. It sounds a bit fiddly, but the inventor of this says people pick it up pretty quickly. It’s no more complex than, say, steering a car and operating the brake and accelerator at the same time.
Just imagine: it’s the future sometime. You’re doing business stuff, and you reach out to shake somebody’s hand. You grasp it, firm and unwavering. Slightly too firm in fact. The other person looks down. You’ve got a dang extra thumb, tapping their hand in a confident but businesslike way. Guess who just won that big contract? That’s right, you did. And you can thank your third thumb.
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