Developing bionic limbs controlled through thought | Hugh Herr

Professor Hugh Herr creates bionic limbs that emulate the function of natural limbs. A double amputee, he is responsible for breakthrough advances that provide greater mobility and new hope to people with physical disabilities. In 2011, Time named him the “Leader of the Bionic Age” for his revolutionary work in the emerging field of biomechatronics, which marries human physiology with electromechanics. Hugh’s innovations include an ankle-foot prosthesis called EmPower, which, for the first time, offers amputees a natural gait. In 2015, his MIT research group invented a surgical procedure that allows people to control their synthetic limbs through thought and experience natural sensations from synthetic limbs.