Feedback enhances brainwave control of a novel hand-exoskeleton

EPFL scientists are developing a lightweight and portable hand exoskeleton that can be controlled with brainwaves. The device enhances performance of brain-machine interfaces and can restore functional grasps for the physically impaired. An extremely lightweight and portable hand exoskeleton may one day help the physically impaired with daily living. These are the hopes of EPFL scientist Luca Randazzo who is developing the exoskeleton with the Defitech Chair in Brain-Machine Interface led by José Millán. The results are published in the January edition of IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters . Their lab at Campus Biotech in Geneva is equipped with gait machines and commercial exoskeletons for walking assistance, but Randazzo started with the rudiments. "When I arrived at the lab, the first thing I added was a sewing machine so that I could develop wearable devices," he explains.