This Cyborg Musician Used His Cool Bionic Arm To Become The Fastest Drummer Alive In The World

With robotics, most of the push is behind designing automated systems to carry out tasks, both industrial and everyday.

However, some of the drive is also behind building more advanced prosthetics that can improve the lives of people who've lost limbs.

Images courtesy: Georgia Tech

Take Jason Barnes, a drummer who lost arm in a workplace accident in 2012. He was eventually accepted into the Atlanta Institute of Music in 2013, but it was only till the year after that his life completely changed. In 2014, he was fitted with a robotic arm by the Georgia Institute of Technology and the half-cyborg has been on tour ever since. Now, he's looking for a way to keep the arm that's become a part of his essence.

Georgia's prosthetic allows Barnes to play faster and better than ever before, but it still technically belongs to the university. In addition, it's also a complex research platform for the institute, requiring two computers and a technical team that go on tour with him. This seriously limits Barnes' freedom to work, and he's looking for a way to change that.

A new Kickstarter campaign is looking to raise $90,000 in crowdfunding for Barnes, so he can have a new arm manufactured, as well as to cover the expenses to organize and host concerts demonstrating his bionic abilities. ¡°This project is so exciting for us because, for the first time since his injury, Jason has a real chance at becoming the touring musician he has always wanted to be, owning his arm, and making a living from his music,¡± says Gil Weinberg, the founder of Georgia Tech's School of Music.

To reiterate, Barnes needs this kind of money because his robot arm is actually insane. It holds two separate sticks so he's actually playing with three at a time. In fact, Barnes is officially now the fastest drummer alive, able to 40 hits a second while barely breaking a sweat. That's twice as much with a single arm than any human can do with two.

Jason Barnes and Gil Weinberg

The arm uses a technology called Electromyography (EMG), which reads the electrical signals in Barnes' arm. Since these signals come from his brain, all he has to do is will his arm to move in order to perform basic actions. In addition, it uses ultrasound technology to more clearly see the signals reaching his muscles. This way, when using an arm outfitted with fingers, he can control each of them individually, and minutely.

For Barnes and Weinberg, the hope is they can perfect this technology, and make it readily and affordably available so amputees in the future don't have to feel like their life is over. Instead, they can possible become even more capable with a robot arm than they ever were with their fleshy one.