Open Blog Post #4: Prosthetic

I am currently writing a paper about Microsoft's involvement in prosthetics . It is actually a rather interesting topic considering how much of a breakthrough technology prosthetic limbs really are. If you think about it its pretty crazy that we can make a fake body part that functions almost the same as the original. I think it is really awesome technology and it has helped thousands of people in the world. I'm writing my paper based of Microsoft's commercial at the Superbowl about Braylon O'Neill. It is about a young boy that was born without the bones in his legs therefore he has been using prosthetics for his entire life. The commercial in my opinion is very powerful and uplifting because it shows the young boy playing sports and running like any other kid that age which is really awesome. Microsoft's role in helping with this technology comes with tracking the gait mechanics of people being fitted for prostheses. They use the Kinect system (similar to the one used with Xbox one)to track the patients movements so they can judge how to create the arm or leg or whatever body part they are making at the time. The Kinect system will create  a 3-D structure of the human body and use this to analyze the patients motions to properly adjust for that persons specific gait mechanics. It is relatively simple and cheap technology which is a breakthrough in of itself because prior to the Microsoft Kinect gait tracking was expensive and rare. Plus the equipment itself was large and clunky, the Kinect method is a whole lot more efficient. It is true that they still have a ways to go until it is a foolproof system but for now the Kinect system is helping thousands around the world be fitted for prostetics. Its giving people a chance to experience things that they thought they might never again, which is why I think this is such a great breakthrough. I never knew that this was how prosthetic's were fitted for patients so it was definitely interesting to look into.