A Smartphone Dock Built Inside Man’s Prosthetic Arm

Trevor Prideaux, a fifty year old man from United Kingdom was born without his left forearm. Years later he was given a prosthetic arm with limited degrees of freedom. Though he got used to the idea, he was still in need of more useful resources for his prosthetic limb. With the invent of smart phones, he thought of an idea by which he could easily text, dial and also use all the applications provided by the gadget. He thought of integrating the device as a part of his prosthetic limb, so that he could easily use it like a normal person.

So, he sought help from Nokia and the Exeter Mobility Center in Devon, and got his wish done. He became the first person in the world to smart phone dock integrated into his prosthetic arm. Prideaux first asked Apple iPhone developers for integrating their device. But, as they were not too confident in this project, he decided to ask the Nokia team. They decided and integrated their latest smart phone, Nokia C7 into the prosthetic limb.

After the integration, he is now easily able to text messages using his manufactured limb, and also make calls by putting his prosthetic forearm up to his ear or by using speakerphone, leaving his right hand free.

This single experiment has led to further unique ideas inside Prideaux’s mind. Apart from being able to record data on how the limb is used to help designers better customize the prosthesis to the person; the limb could also be augmented to make better use of the phone or computer. A small speaker could be attached on to the limb so that the user can listen to some music. He could also add in some extra batteries so that the phone could be continuously charged.