This first hit the web about a year ago, but IKO (Carlos Arturo Torres’ Lego-enhanced prosthesis for children), which just won a Core 77 design award, is making the rounds again, and we couldn’t be happier about it.

With assistance from the R&D team at Lego’s Future Lab, Torres has developed a prosthetic arm for children that is not only compatible with the toy bricks, but uses sensors to measure muscle signals coming in at the point that it’s attached. So not only can a child build things like robotic claws or laser cannons on their arm, IKO can control the mechanical systems in Lego’s line of robotic building sets, letting them control the claw, activate laser lights or fly their spaceship around a room.

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Torres is now planning a commercial release for IKO and is also imagining ways for other brands to get involved, toy-related or not. While we’ve all seen the video of Robert Downey Jr. delivering an Iron Man-inspired arm to a child, Torres also told The Guardian it could be possible for Nintendo to make accessories compatible with its gaming systems, or GE making things like microscopes.

What makes this so great is that it takes a disability, something that can be alienating for a child no matter how supportive their friends and family are, and turns it into an opportunity to have fun, explore their imagination and (literally) build new experiences out of what others see as a limitation.

Credits:

Brand: IKO
Agency: Lego Future Lab