14 DAY TRIAL // Around this time last month, a certain man by the name of Jose Delgado Jr. made rounds on the world wide web thanks to the new 3D printed prosthetic hand that had changed his life. Now, that hand is changing the life of a second person.
And this time it's not an adult that is getting a new lease on life, but a little girl aged 10. All thanks to Jeremy Simon's help.
You see, while it wasn't Simon who invented the Cyborg Beast 3D printed prosthetic, he personally worked with Sierra (that's the girl's name) and helped her print out the pieces of the hand, before assembling it.
It's still not possible to create complex items with moving parts via 3D printing, but making the individual segments was easy enough.
So now we have a second person benefiting from a prosthetic hand that, at the price of $50 / €30, is better than a contraption that usually sells for over $40,000 / €30,000.
You can find out more about the Cyborg Beast (originally invented by Dr. Jorge Zuniga but refined by the e-NABLE folk since then), and Jeremy Simon's inventions, on his blog, 3duniverse.
Simon actually helped Sierra 3D print pieces for two hands, as well as assembly materials, and talked her through the assembly process via Skype.
If nothing else, we have to admit that Simon knows how to get involved in the success of the projects he finds an interest in.
Needless to say, Sierra's mother is ecstatic about her daughter's enthusiasm, though we should probably mention that the girl isn't actually crippled.
Instead, she is participating in a science fair and, as her project, wants to show how 3D printing can help humans and animals who need limbs.
Her enthusiasm has already won over her classmates and teachers, according to the girl's mother, who seems to be quite pleased with the situation herself.
“She is so incredibly excited about this project. She goes to sleep talking about it and wakes up asking what we have to do next,” Sierra's mother said.
“Her enthusiasm for this project has ignited interest in 3D printing in her classmates as well as her teacher. I’m sure her teacher would be interested in turning this into a class project (probably for next school year since we are winding down).”
Sierra, Jeremy Simon and an organization of volunteers (e-NABLE) are now collaborating on customized prosthetics for both humans and animals.
Update July 18, 2014: We were contacted by Mr. Jeremy Simon who pointed out some confusion in regards to who really invented the Cyborg Beast: one Dr. Jorge Zuniga, though the prosthetic hand has since been refined by the other e-NABLE members.