【Karen Foster Archives】

Source：Unobstructed Information Network Editor：Tech Time：2025-06-26 15:12:52

This is Karen Foster Archivespretty sick.

While in Pittsburgh on Thursday to attend the White House Frontiers Conference, President Barack Obama fist-bumped Nathan Copeland, the first man to have his sense of touch restored via a mind-controlled robotic hand.

SEE ALSO: Watch Michelle Obama's entire speech on Trump and women

A decade ago when Copeland, now 28, was a teenager, he lost all sensation from the chest downwards in a car accident. In another time, he would likely have never been able to feel again.

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Now he can, thanks to the help of a sensory-enhanced robotic hand which he can control with his mind.

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The hand, developed by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, is surgically wired directly to Copeland's brain, allowing him to feel when each of his "fingers" is being stimulated, even though his spinal cord is damaged.

The researchers documented the new technology in a study released Thursday in the journal Science Translational Medicine. It could be used to restore function to patients whose limbs were amputated or those who suffer from spinal cord injuries.

The only downside for Copeland is that he can't bring the robot arm home with him.

SEE ALSO: President Obama reveals himself as the most powerful 'Star Trek' fan on Earth

"Technically when it's over, I will have netted nothing except having done some cool stuff with some cool people," Copeland told the Associated Press. "It's cheesy, but Luke Skywalker loses his hand and then basically the next day he's got a robot one and it's working fine. We have to get to that point, and to do that, someone has to start it."

While at the one-day conference hosted by the University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon University and the White House, President Obama met with leaders across five different frontiers of innovation, but this moment was definitely the highlight.

Topics Barack Obama

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