Man With an Advanced Thought-Controlled Robotic Arm Learns How to Play the Piano

In 2016, we wrote about Johnny Matheny, a man who lost a significant portion of his left arm to cancer, but through a Johns Hopkins University program, Matheny was given an advanced robotic arm that he can control with his mind through the aid of wireless arm sensors. Since that time Matheny has taken quite well to the prothetic arm, despite a few technical difficulties and long distance software updates. Matheny has even begun learning how to play the piano using both hands.

The first person to live with a mind-controlled robotic arm is teaching himself piano. Johnny Matheny has spent the last five months with an advanced prosthetic, designed to replace the human hand and arm.