Socio-technical materials for prosthetic hands

该项目探索了工程设计、协同设计、材料文化、数字制造和服务设计如何结合起来，彻底改变假肢手材料的个人选择。假肢是一个材料使用本质上是社会技术的行业：假手不仅仅是一个医疗设备或工具，而是佩戴者身份的延伸。目前，假肢手的美学在“逼真”（或不可思议）的硅胶手套和半机械人式的机器手之间两极分化。许多截肢者觉得这两种选择都不符合他们自己的身体形象。我们激进地提出了以材料为主导的个性化制造方法，将提供一种由穿着者选择的材料组合的共同设计，从新的、不熟悉的材料到富含文化关联和共鸣的日常材料。考虑到每种材料的选择可能意味着不同的制造过程，我们将探索如何实现数字制造，使这种包容性和赋权方法的假肢可行和负担得起。该项目的第二个补充目标是深入了解这个特定的应用如何催化更复杂的社会技术与整个数字制造材料的接触。采用3D打印技术可能会导致对可以直接打印的材料的依赖，实际上减少了我们与更丰富的物质文化的接触。定制制造目前通常在规模、颜色和材料上受到限制。提供更广泛的材料意味着更广泛的服务，超越了个人数字制造设施。该项目将研究如何将数字制造设施网络结合起来，在相同的设计中提供不同的材料选择。我们相信，假手的案例研究将为其他行业的定制包容性制造提供独特的视角，并激发创新方法。这个项目将说明所谓的利基应用如何在整个制造业中开启激进的新实践。这项研究将分五个工作阶段进行：“参与式工作坊”，我们将通过与不同的参与者（包括截肢者、义肢学家、材料科学家、设计师和其他制造商）制作手来探索材料；“共同设计假肢”，我们将与一些选定的截肢者合作，用他们选择的材料设计具有代表性的假肢原型；“设计服务”，我们将构思支持这种程度的选择所需的网络和服务，并原型化用户对这种服务的体验；“超越假肢”，我们采访了更多的利益相关者，并为更广泛的数字制造提取了一套通用设计原则；“展示与传播”，我们将举办一个展示包容性制造的公众展览。产出将包括共同设计的材料手的集合，这些材料手的公开展览，服务的原型用户体验，记录我们流程的编辑视频，针对数字制造领域的技术报告以及同行评审的材料科学和设计期刊（例如材料与设计；设计期刊）上的文章。这个项目将鼓励采用更具创造性和参与性的设计方法，让用户作为伙伴参与新产品的创造。它还将通过引起对新材料的用户和设计驱动需求的关注，影响研究议程并促进其他定制应用中以设计为主导的材料科学，从而影响材料科学，工程和制造社区。

This project explores how engineering design, collaborative design, materials culture, digital fabrication and service design can be combined to revolutionise the personal selection of materials in prosthetic hands. Prosthetics is one industry in which the use of materials is inherently socio-technical: a prosthetic hand is not just a medical device or a tool, but an extension of its wearer's identity. Currently the aesthetics of prosthetic hands are polarised between 'realistic' (or uncanny) silicone gloves and cyborg-like robotic hands. Many amputees feel that neither of these alternatives fit their own body image. Our radical proposal for a materials-led approach to personalised manufacture would offer a common design in a combination of materials chosen by the wearer, ranging from new, unfamiliar materials to everyday materials that are rich in cultural associations and resonances. Given that each material choice may imply a different manufacturing process, we will explore how accessible digital fabrication could make this inclusive and empowering approach to prosthetics viable and affordable. The project's second, complementary aim is to gain an in-depth understanding of how this particular application might catalyse a more sophisticated socio-technical engagement with materials across digital fabrication as a whole. The uptake of 3D printing can lead to a reliance on materials that can be directly printed, actually reducing our engagement with a richer material culture. Bespoke fabrication is currently usually restricted in scale, colour and materials. Offering a wider palette of materials implies a wider service, beyond individual digital fabrication facilities. This project will examine how a network of digital fabrication facilities could be combined to afford a choice of materials within the same design. We believe this case study of prosthetic hands will grant unique perspectives and inspire innovative approaches to bespoke inclusive manufacturing in other sectors. This project will illustrate how supposedly niche applications can unlock radical new practices across manufacturing as a whole.The research will be carried out in five workstages:'Participatory workshops', in which we will explore materials by making hands with diverse participants, including amputees, prosthetists, material scientists, designers and other makers;'Co-designing prostheses', in which we will collaborate with a few chosen amputees to design representational prototypes of prosthetic hands in materials of their choosing;'Designing the service', in which we will conceive of the network and service that would be needed to support this degree of choice, and prototype the user's experience of such a service;'Looking beyond prosthetics', in which we interview further stakeholders and extract a set of generic design principles for wider digital manufacture;'Exhibition and dissemination', in which we will stage a public exhibition to illustrate inclusive manufacturing.Outputs will include a collection of co-designed material hands, a public exhibition of these, a prototyped user experience of the service, an edited video documenting our processes, a technical report aimed at the digital fabrication sector and articles in peer-reviewed materials science and design journals (e.g. Materials & Design; the Design Journal). This project will encourage a more creative, participatory approach to design, involving users as partners in the creation of new products. It will also influence the materials science, engineering and manufacturing communities by drawing attention to user and design-driven requirements for new materials, influencing research agendas and promoting design-led materials science in other bespoke applications.