I was born without lower arms and legs, so I’ve been around prosthetics of all shapes and sizes for as long as I can remember.

I’ve actively avoided those designed for upper arms for most of my adult life, so have never used a bionic hand before.

But when I visited a company in California, which is seeking to take the technology to the next level, I was intrigued enough to try one out – and the results were, frankly, mind-bending.

Prosthetic limbs have come a long way since the early days when they were fashioned out of wood, tin and leather.

Modern-day replacement arms and legs are made of silicone and carbon fibre, and increasingly they are bionic, meaning they have various electronically controlled moving parts to make them more useful to the user.

What the company I visited, Atom Limbs, is doing is combining a range of cutting-edge innovations, including artificial intelligence (AI), into a next-generation bionic arm.

Human motion

Atom Limbs uses advanced sensors and machine learning – where computers train themselves to become more accurate – to interpret electrical signals from a person’s brain and use them to move and manipulate a prosthetic limb.

The arm has a full range of human motion in the elbow, wrist, and individual fingers – and it provides haptic feedback to the wearer on their grip strength.

The arm attaches via a strengthened sportswear-style vest which distributes the weight of the arm evenly. Although it still has some weight to it, it is considerably lighter than other bionic arms I’ve seen.

It’s non-invasive, meaning it doesn’t need any surgery or implants to function. It connects to the wearer’s residual limb firstly with bands of sensors that measure electrical signals, and then via a cup that fits over the top, with the arm connecting via an interface.

Despite avoiding upper-arm prosthetics before, when Atom Limbs said I could have a try at operating a digital version of the arm on a computer screen, via their control software, I was interested enough to say yes.

I do have residual muscles in my arm that I was able to “assign” to corresponding hand, wrist and elbow movements, which proved to be a unique, mind-boggling experience.

The notion of learning how to control a part of the body I don’t have is almost impossible to describe.

Out of reach

However, exciting though this technology is, one issue that is always of concern to disabled people when new products come into being is cost.

The assistive devices landscape is littered with products that, while impressive, can cost many times an average yearly salary. That puts most devices out of reach for many disabled people who statistics show are more likely to be among the poorest in society.

https://emp.bbc.co.uk/emp/SMPj/2.51.0/iframe.htmlMedia caption,

Jason shows the BBC how Atom Limbs’ prosthetic arm works

Atom Limbs says it hopes its arm will be positioned around the $20,000 (£15,000) price point, which – while still a hefty sum of money – is considerably less than many other bionic products on the market.

Ian Adam, a lecturer in prosthetics and orthotics at the University of Derby, says while this may sound like a lot, it is a good price in the industry – though it won’t be for everyone.

“It’s at the cheaper end of the market, but say you had an accident and got a pay-out, well that’s got to last the rest of your life,” he said.

“So I think a lot of patients are canny about what they spend their money on… sometimes people are quite prepared to not use them at all – with upper limb prosthetics it can be just an extra thing that not everybody will decide they need to have.”

And then there are the ethical and practical issues around such products.

In 2022 Britt H Young, herself a bionic arm user, questioned whether the prosthetics “arms race” has focused too much on innovation rather than application.

Social media star Tilly Lockey, who has been using bionic arms since she was 9 years old, is excited about their future potential – but she told the BBC whether this device made a difference would all come down to testing.

“I’ve seen like them change so much first-hand, but I’ve also seen them throughout the development phases,” she said.

“There’s a lot of ambitious projects, but I think the way they truly get there is the back and forth development from the users who actually wear them every day.”

Ultimately, the Atom Limbs arm is still early in development.

The firm is collecting data ahead of regulatory filings in the US, which means it will be some time yet before we see them being used in every day life.

Additional reporting by Tom Gerken.

A village pub is offering free British Sign Language (BSL) classes for the local community.

The Bramford Cock in Bramford, Suffolk, holds two classes at the pub every other Monday.

Landlady Teresa Brinkley had the idea after speaking with hearing-impaired customer, David.

She said: “I’ve wanted to do it for a little while… We sort of railroaded him into helping teach us some of the basics.”

David, who lives in the village, has been hearing impaired since birth and wears two hearing aids.

“[Teresa] approached me to see if I knew anything about sign language, which I did, and she asked if I’d run a basic sign language course,” he said.

Twelve people turned up for the first session about six weeks ago, and David taught them how to finger spell the alphabet and say simple phrases, such as ‘good morning’.

To David’s surprise, the group swiftly mastered their first lesson.

“They picked this up within the week, so I had to quickly jump to lesson three,” he said.

Ms Brinkley said she practises with the village residents, adding: “When someone asks for a drink, I literally sign it all out and then try to teach them before I actually pour it.”

The landlady has since welcomed more class attendees: “It’s just for an hour, it’s a relaxed environment… then we just sit there and chat, and practise is all.”

David said: “If they’d had sign language when I was at school growing up, it would’ve made my life a lot easier.”

A nine-year-old boy, who was born with one hand, is one of the first children to receive a Spider-Man bionic arm.

Kaden Taylor from Burnham-on-Sea received his 3D-printed Hero Arm as a surprise after mentioning to his family that he would like to wear one.

Despite being offered prosthetics before, he never agreed to one, until he saw the design by Open Bionics.

“I can cut with a knife and fork now and play tennis. And I can pick up more things,” Kaden told BBC Radio Somerset.

Kaden’s mum, Colette Taylor, added: “Kaden has never worn any prosthetics, we’ve always offered him options and he always refused.

“When I showed him the Hero Arm, he shouted: ‘Yes please!’

“It’s already made a difference,” Ms Taylor added.

“The first thing he wanted to do was go on a walk and hold my hand with it, which is so lovely.

“It’s just such a life-changing thing for him to have.”

Kaden’s family was able to buy the arm due to the community fundraising for him.

Within two months, they raised over £13,000.

“It blew up, it was crazy,” Ms Taylor said.

“We had people who I’ve never spoken to before come out and message me.”

Kaden added: “Thank you, you’re all amazing.”