One of the recurring themes throughout Hideo Kojima's final Metal Gear Solid game published by Konami is “phantom pain”. A condition where amputees still feel as if they have their limb even if it isn't there. Well, one project sets out to correct this phantom pain for one gamer by restoring them their limb using a robotic prosthetic equivalent to the one Venom Snake uses in Metal Gear Solid V.
Over on the website called The Phantom Limb Project, they wax poetics on Metal Gear Solid and its influence on video game and pop culture, as well as how it deals with some of the traumas and themes of war, including losing one's limb. The project wants to help a gamer, specifically James Young, recover his ability to use his his missing limb once more with the aid of medical advancements and robotic prosthetics, similar to what was featured in Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.
According to the website...
The Phantom Limb Project was born out of a desire to create something innovative, on the cusp of future technology, which would explore the themes present within the series and more specifically, the themes and ideas referenced in the latest incarnation: Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. We also wanted to tell an uplifting human story of what it means to be an amputee, to feel phantom pain, to overcome loss and how technology can change our perceptions of ‘disability’
The website will regularly receive updates with progress on Young's journey into receiving his new prosthetic arm.
For those of you wondering, this kind of technology is already out and available in limited quantities for select individuals. In fact, if you check out a story recently published by ABC, they talked with a veteran and former marine who lost his arm when attempting to disable an IED. He's been fitted with a robotic prosthetic that reacts to his thoughts and moves without tertiary controls, similar to what was depicted in Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.
This tech is becoming more common place, where thoughts control the robotics instead of apps or manual switches, which is how it's been handled in the past.
DARPA has also been making huge strides in neural-controlled robotic technologies, which allow users to make rudimentary actions without the aid of apps or phones or additional devices. These prosthetics are attuned to the neural synapses and muscle vibrations of the user, sending signals to the remote limb to perform specific actions.
The Japanese have also been advancing this technology rather rapidly, but they've used it for more recreational means, such as a giant synapse-controlled robot known as the Kuratas, designed and developed by Suidobashi Heavy Industry.
While this might seem like sci-fi stuff out of Deus Ex to a lot of people, the ability to control robotic limbs with neural technology is a reality. Right now DARPA is still looking for manufacturing partners for their simplified robotic prosthetics, but in the case of Taylor Young, he's going to be given an opportunity to have his limb functionality restored Metal Gear-style with the help of the Phantom Limb Project.
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