IKO - Kids Are Imagining Their Own LEGO Prosthetic
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Designer Carlos Arturo Torres had an interesting idea that would make it possible for kids to create their own prosthetics according to their own personal needs. In 2014 his idea became IKO. What inspired Torres in the beginning are the 3269 Colombian civilians who have been injured by landmines in the last 24 years and 20% to 30% of those are children.
Losing a limb or an appendage for any person at any age has difficult physical challenges as well as mental challenges but the social impact of amputation on children is severe. Torres wanted to find a way to include the families and friends of the children in the making of their prosthetic. This would allow the children to express themselves socially with the tools that can be attached to it.
For expert support he didn’t mess around and hastily approached CIREC and Lego FutureLab and they hopped right on board. One of their initial thoughts was that it would be important for the children to be involved early on in the process with the prosthetics team. In the beginning of the rehab process (with an age suitability of 7+ years) a Lego WeDo software interfaced starter kit for robotics was very helpful. The kids are able to express themselves with these early tools and add vital insight to the making of their own prosthetic as well as any future prosthetics that are made.
The project focused on upper prosthetics and more specifically a creative 8-year-old boy named Dario who has a congenital malformation of the right forearm. Working together, it was important to Torres that Dario be focused on his potential super-abilities rather than what was missing and this meant that Dario’s imagination was the key!
The team came up with a final sleek well-fit design that can be broken down into 6 parts; the Hack or Create area, the Battery, the Socket Charging Station which isn’t just functional it’s habit forming so the prosthetic always has a home to go to at the end of the day, the Muscle and the Hand.
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