Robots’ turn to control humans now?

Sounds odd, doesn’t it, to have a robot control a human – the one who created it. Well, that might very well be the case in the future for specific cases when there is no human assistant around, leaving a robot to do the job of helping a human rehabilitate from traumatic injuries to one’s limbs. Well, there is a need for this niche, where such technology might eventually assist the paralyzed to move their arms or legs. Check out a video of it after the jump.

Testing the concept, this science group decided to recruit human volunteers to temporarily give up control over their bodies in the name of science. A couple of electrodes were attached to the forearm so that electric signals will be delivered and force the volunteers to open or close their hand. The presence of another two electrodes on the upper arm will control the elbow joint, moving the arm towards the body. With a robot controlling which part of the arm to move, it certainly frees up the nurse to do some other work – such as the never ending mountain of paperwork, for example.