Bionic hand that 'sees' objects and grips is revealed

A revolutionary bionic hand that'sees' objects and instantly decides what kind of grip to adopt has been developed by scientists. For the first time, the hand can self-select one of four grips depending on whether it is picking up an apple or holding a pen between thumb and forefinger. All the person in charge of it must do is glance at the object they want to pick up and picture clenching their fist. The breakthrough, which uses a 99p ($1.30) webcam to work out the grasp needed, does away with hours of exhausting training for amputees using clumsy traditional prosthetics. The team programmed the hand to perform four'grasps' suitable for picking up a cup, holding a TV remote, and gripping objects with a thumb and two fingers or a pinched thumb and first finger A camera fitted to the hand rapidly takes a picture of the object in front of it and feeds the information to an electronic'brain'.