The Luke Hand

05/07/2025

Dear friends of The Luke Hand,

Many of you have been part of this community for years, supporting a vision that was deeply personal: developing open-source technologies to create a bionic hand for my son, Theo. Together, we shared a mission of harnessing technology for good, rooted in love, care, and human connection. That spirit has always stayed with me.

Today, I’m reaching out with BIG feelings of gratitude, excitement, and vulnerability to share the next chapter of that journey: Creative Powerup.

Creative Powerup is a new community I’ve created to bring together solopreneurs, artists, authors, engineers — creators of all kinds — to harness AI not just as a tool, but as a partner in deeply purposeful, meaningful creation. We’re focused on projects that are unmistakably ours — that reflect our unique fingerprints and visions, rather than the generic output AI so often produces.

In a way, CP is a natural evolution of what The Luke Hand was always about: using technology to empower people to create solutions, tell their stories, and make a positive impact in the world. The tools are different, but the heart is the same.

Our Circle community is live (small but growing!) and I’d love to invite you — the incredible supporters of The Luke Hand — to be part of these early, formative moments. 🌱✨

💫 Learn more here: https://creativepowerup.com/
💫 And if you feel inspired, I warmly invite you to join us and start creating together. ✨🌍✨

Truly,
Shalom

Creative Powerup = Human Creativity + Community × AI Power

02/10/2021

We love this creative use of Legos! This needs to be further developed...

Team LEGO, do you see an R&D opportunity for prosthetics use cases like this?

09/29/2020

This looks promising...

"Researchers from Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT- Italian Institute of Technology) and Centro Protesi INAIL in Italy reported on their ability to replicate the key biological properties of the human hand: natural synergistic and adaptable movement, biomimetic levels of force and speed, high anthropomorphism and grasp robustness. Developed by a collaborative of researchers, orthopaedists, industrial designers and patients, the prosthetic hand called Hannes is able to restore over 90% of functionality to people with upper-limb amputations."

In the current issue of Science Robotics, researchers from Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT- Italian Institute of Technology) and Centro Protesi INAIL in Italy reported on their ability to replicate the key biological properties of the human hand: natural synergistic and adaptable movement, biom...

09/13/2019

Very glad to see these Swiss researchers are also working on applying the power of machine learning to the task of making prosthetics more functional (as we did with our Smart Bionics project). Looks promising!

Prosthetic limbs are getting better every year, but the strength and precision they gain doesn't always translate to easier or more effective use, since amputees have only a basic level of control over them. One promising avenue being investigated by Swiss researchers is having an AI take over wher....

07/22/2019

"If you put your mind to it, you're capable of anything."
– Carson Pickett

https://www.seattletimes.com/video/4846668803001/for-seattle-reign-rookie-carson-pickett-first-glance-may-be-deceiving

Carson Pickett, a first-round draft pick for Seattle's Reign FC, is a rising star in women's professional soccer. The rookie discusses the obstacles she's overcome on her unique journey to the NWSL. (Bettina Hansen & Corinne Chin / The Seattle Times)

07/11/2019

Many people with limb differences encounter a barrage of experiences that make it difficult to feel confident about the way their body looks (including feeling isolated & alone, being stared at, people making insensitive comments, etc.). Therefore, we’re delighted by this positive campaign that raises awareness and promotes for people with limb differences. We’re grateful to Zebedee for this great work. Check it out, be inspired, and share with others! 😍

https://www.zebedeemanagement.co.uk/blog/limb-difference-awareness-2019

In April, 19 from ages 2 to 54 took part in this stunning shoot with photographer Elise Dumontet. All the Zebedee models have e

06/25/2019

Using a bionic hand to assemble another hand. Way to go, kid!

How cool is this? 13 year old Raimi using her bionic hand to assemble another bionic hand! 🙌 www.openbionics.com/sign-up

02/04/2019

For us, the real winner of the Super Bowl was Adaptive Design and Microsoft’s Adaptive Controller.

And congrats to our friends Jordan of Born Just Right! It was awesome to see you in the ad! Way to help change the game for people with limb differences!

When technology empowers each of us, it empowers all of us. This Super Bowl, follow the inspirational story of passionate young gamers rising to the top of t...

01/16/2019

Mad adaptive skiilz from the Ill-Abilities crew! Respect!

12/11/2018

We’re very pleased with the work of the two teams at UC Berkeley’s Berkeley Engineering. They created two innovative R&D prosthetics for Theo - one with a manual crank (plus “party mode,” with lights & music) and another with DC motors. Theo was very pleased.

11/29/2018

Do you have a few moments to share your experience using prosthetic devices? I'm training a team of UX designers who are building a prototype for a prosthetics company, and we'd love to hear from you. Please share your experience here to help inform us how to design and build better devices: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSebx65pVZanlaIv-AFB7FGApdCjP8mQyRktubzd3GYxT2QdjA/viewform

We're a group of designers looking to improve the lives of people with prosthetics. Your participation will help us do that!