One Lucky Fan Is Getting An Actual Phantom Limb Prosthetic Arm From Konami

Konami is moving forward with their plans on providing a lucky fan with a replacement arm based on the prosthetic worn by Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain's protagonist, Venom Snake. The company will unveil the creation at the inaugural BDYHAX body modification and bio-hacking convention.

According to Shacknews, the Body Hacking Con 2016 will take place between February 19 and February 21 later this month at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, Texas. The event will play host to various speakers who will engage attendees with information and details on advancements in bionics and bio-hacking. As part of the event, Konami will be in attendance to reveal their prosthetic limb based on Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain for disabled gamer, James Young.

Young lost his arm and leg in a train accident in London, England. Konami will be working on bringing back functionality to his arm through their Phantom Limb project. If this all sounds hokey and as if it could be little more than smoke and mirrors, take note that bionics and robotic prosthesis research have made massive leaps in just a couple of years.

In fact, some of the latest advancements include utilizing biometric readings that can interact and control robotic prosthetics. This is achieved through devices like the Myo from Thalmic Labs, which is a gesture-based biometric reader that wearers can place on their arm and send data to a digital hotspot such as a PC or tablet, think of it as a wearable version of PlayStation Move. Utilizing the Myo armband to send data to a software interface can then allow that data to be transmitted back to a robotic prosthetic, this is called myoelectric prosthesis, as detailed over on a website actually called Myoelectric Prosthetics.

The advancements in this technology are revolutionary. The Myo can be used for things like gesture based gaming, controlling real life remote drones with muscle reflexes or interfacing with computer software based on flinching or flexing. It's some really advanced tech and fairly cheap for what it can do, running about $199.99.

CNET recently reported that researchers at Johns Hopkins University have utilized the Myo armband for actual advancements in feeding data to a computer that then instructs the robotic prosthetic to react, enabling a full range of motion, similar to a crude version of Snake's arm in The Phantom Pain. You can see a demonstration of it in action with the video below.

There's no telling if Konami will take a similar route with the prosthetic based on Snake's red, robotic arm in The Phantom Pain, but it's entirely possible. What's more is that some prosthetic researchers have taken ample steps in making robotic prosthetics affordable by utilizing 3D printers to make the materials for the limbs, so that they can be mass produced with ease.

I tend to doubt that Konami will go the route of a 3D printer for their replica, but I guess bionics and Metal Gear fans will find out when BDYHAX gets underway later this month. For more information you can visit the official BodyHacking website.