LEGO is now more than just a toy for fun and building blocks, the new version of the LEGO prosthetic arm is helping children with disabilities do what they thought was impossible.
Colombian designer Carlos Torres recently created a prototype LEGO prosthetic arm which offers amputee children the same opportunity and ability to explore on building LEGO blocks in their own perspectives.
The new LEGO prosthetic arm design is called the IKO Creative Prosthetic System which allows children to change the attachments at the end of their prosthetic arms with LEGO toys, spaceships or any custom design, according to Digital Trends.
"LEGO is just the start," the project said in a statement on its official website. "This project has a global intended market. Partnering with strategic companies would allow the system to offer a bigger flexibility and more accessible prices to the public."
For the LEGO prosthetics arm, creator Torres tried this with two case studies, amputee children Dario and Angie. The website said he travelled to Colombia to meet one of his sponsors, CIREC which has experts to "repair disabilities."
"I found out that there are huge needs related not only to the physical activity but their psychological being," Torres explained. "What if 'normal' kids could understand disability in from a different perspective?"
He also partnered with a sponsor LEGO Future Lab for the prosthetic arm. The website said he did two tests for the system's functionality. The first test was a Backhoe LEGO design and the second was a story-driven spaceship LEGO set to be attached to the arm.
"The main concept of this project is to build and enrich the kid's self-esteem through a learning, creative and social inclusive experience," Torres added.
His LEGO prosthetic arm design also won the 2015 Core77 Design award, as reported by Silicon Republic. Torres is a Colombian design student.
