DARPA hopes to have a mechanical arm whose functionality is on par with a flesh-and-blood limb. A new arm developed by researchers at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) is just as ambitious, allowing its user to actually feel an object in his grasp.

Proto 1, the first prototype to come out of DARPA's prosthetic initiative. Its the first fully integrated prosthetic arm that can be controlled naturally, provide sensory feedback and allows for eight degrees of freedom. Thats a level of control far beyond the current state of the art for prosthetic limbs. Its a complete limb system that also includes a virtual environment used for patient training, clinical configuration, and to record limb movements and control signals during clinical investigations. 
It was tested in 2007 by Jesse Sullivan, a lineman who lost both of his arms in an accident six years ago. Proto 1 was attached to nerves in Sullivan's chest and shoulder, much like prosthetics he's tested in the past. But instead of simply watching his fingers close on a plastic cup, Sullivan received direct sensory feedback, triggering the sensation of grip in the nerve receptors that map to his missing hand. Proto 1 also allows for more natural walking, since it can swing freely.

Proto 2 is expected to be unveiled in late 2008. That arm is stronger, faster making more like a human limb. With more then 25 degrees of freedom it will be much more flexible. 80 individual sensory elements will provide sensory feedback of touch, temperature, and limb position.

To improve appearances and functionality, users of the Proto 2 will become even more bionic by getting injected with MyoElectric Sensor (IMES) devices. They are very small injectable or surgically implantable devices used to measure muscle activity at the source rather than wearing surface electrodes on the skin that were used during testing of the first prototype.
 

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