06 Jul
145/365(+1) by Luca Rossini
145/365(+1), a photo by Luca Rossini on Flickr.

Lens: Carl Zeiss 24-70mm f2.8
Camera: NEX-7, ISO100, f8, 1/160, raw

The next implant of the robotic hand in which my research group is involved is now coming, and I started foreseeing the risk to be caught into the “science-fever” once again. If that will be the case, for at least two months the robotic hand and its human subject will be my solely thought, from dusk to dawn. If that happens, this project will certainly suffer of it.
The delicate balance between science and art in my life is a continuous struggle. The project helped me a lot to bring photography almost at the same level as my job as bioengineer, since it imposed me a daily dose of effort. This means that everyday I try to save a bit of energy, I don’t get (mentally) exhausted at work as I was used to, so that later I still have some spare batteries when it comes to thinking and making the daily shot.
The robotic hand implant could have a disrupting impact on this complex balance. Due to technical limitations, we’ll be able to perform our research activities for around forty days from the implant, and there’s already an endless list of things we want to test, to check, to implement, and to perform. Luckily, compared to four years ago, when I took part at the first implant, I’m not a PhD student anymore, so I’m not one of the “slaves”. Instead, I have a few young researchers working for me which will be helping.
So, maybe after all I won’t be caught and slammed down from my precious science-art balance by the robotic hand, I could even find it to be an inspiring subject for my daily shots. Who knows.
Mr. Bunny, however, has already been caught. The hand is a P5 glove, a cheap device to monitor hand and fingers position in a 3D space. It just arrived today. Starting tomorrow it will be in the lab.

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