The National Science Foundation (NSF) Office of Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation (EFRI) has issued a slew of grants to scientists to study human neurology, and its implications for the development of future technologies.
Pictured above is Anatomically Correct Testbed Hand, a device that ” has three fully actuated fingers that have the same biomechanical structure as the human hand. This hand is used to understand the human hand’s biomechanical structure and neural control strategies, and will serve as a prosthetic and surgical tool one day.”
NSF explains its push to study the brain:
Interdisciplinary teams will pursue transformative, fundamental research in two areas of great promise: understanding the brain and how its abilities may be used through cognitive optimization and prediction; and developing ways to make complex, interdependent infrastructure systems more resilient and sustainable.
What researchers learn from the brain may open many new paths of discovery, in areas such as computing, robotics, medicine and education. Understanding how the brain moves the hand, for example, could illuminate entirely novel ways to help people who are paralyzed or use prosthetic limbs. Understanding how the brain visually recognizes objects will enable advances in artificial vision systems, robotic intelligence and more.
Full story: New Research to Probe Human Mind and Future Infrastructure Systems…
ENG/EFRI FY 2008 Awards Announcement…