Week 3 was off the a fantastic start. I took President’s day off, and spent the rest of my week reading papers and working to get MATLAB to communicate with the Myo Armband.
I had a lot to get through I had a wrapper program to use MATLAB with the Myo Armband. Basically, after getting the software to get my computer to recognize the Myo Armband, I was able to do the stuff I mentioned last week. I was able to use it as a mouse for my computer, and got rid of stress with Fruit Ninja, but for my project, I was going nowhere. In order to get the data from my simulations, I needed to get the MuJoCo Haptix software to communicate with MATLAB and the Armband.
This process was kind of extensive, and involved a couple complicated steps. Essentially I had to get it to the point where, using MATLAB, I could program the simulation in the Haptix software with various objects. Then, using the Myo Armband and some sensors, I would be lifting the objects in the simulation, and I could get my program to record the raw EMG data. Then I will be analyzing the EMG data that I obtain. Four days and a couple hours later, I think it works...
As another goal of this project, I wanted to analyze the social and psychological implications as a result of prosthetics throughout history. Psychologically, losing a limb takes a huge toll, but the entire process of having and using a prosthetic is a journey in and of itself. In Dr. John C. Racy’s “Psychological Adaptation to Amputation” paper, he identifies that age, personality, lifestyle, and an emotional support are the most important factors in the way a person adjusts to their life with an amputation and a prosthetic. Personally, what I think is the most important is an emotional support system. You need someone who can be flexible and help you out with any problems, and you need someone to support you as you adapt to using the prosthetic. For some this transition can be really hard, because you feel like you have lost something, and you need to grow to accept the situation that you are in. Overall, this paper provided me with a new insightful outlook on people with prosthetics, and what they have gone through. I have linked it below, so feel free to read it if you are interested and get the opportunity.
Something that continuously comes up when reading papers of the history and development of prosthetics is cosmetic appearance. Many prosthetics managed to balance appearance with functionality, but today, most prosthetics are designed to look exactly like the original, even having the same skin tone as the recipient. When designing the Soft Hand Pro device, the device that I am looking at, designers have crafted a "sleeve" type covering that is the color of skin. As a question, I want to know what your reactions would be to different appearances of the same prosthetic device, kind of as a small scale survey to identify any possible stigmas regarding prosthetics’ appearance.
Thank you all for making me the blog of the week! If you have any questions, feel free to ask them below. I will be taking the next week off for my spring break, but I will continue working on the program and reading through papers. Don't Forget to Answer the survey down below!
Google Forms: Prosthetics
Psychological Adaptation to Amputation
