MIT scientists develop sensor-operated robotic fingers

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Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have come up with a robotic extension to the human hand they said could help with everyday tasks.

Researches said the extension - essentially, two extra "fingers" - could be used to grasp, leaving the hand free to do other tasks.

Worn around the wrist, it mimics the movement of the wearer's hand.

The next step, they said, will be a less bulky version.

The extra fingers developed by the team at MIT work using sensors attached to the human hand to measure the position of the wearer's fingers. An algorithm controls the output from the sensors to the robotic fingers, moving them in sync.

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