Star Wars is the modern-day Odyssey.

It has dazzled movie-goers since its initial release. The classic scene where Luke Skywalker loses his hand gave rise to the next scene, where Luke is given an artificial one. His high-tech prosthetic was nearly indiscernible from the real thing.

While we don’t have this level of prosthetics, we are quickly getting there. Much like the droids of Star Wars, we are developing an intelligence that can control this artificial hand as well. OpenAI, a pet project founded by Elon Musk, is making both of these science-fictions science realities.

OpenAI’s shining glory is their robotic hand, named “Dactyl“; an autonomous learning machine. OpenAI is able to hold a letter block and show you a letter that you ask it to show you. While this is a simple task for a human, it is a technological marvel.

OpenAI believes that this is only the tip of the iceberg of what Dactyl might be able to accomplish. It could be the first step in giving an artificial intelligence a functioning ability to use a hand. It could also give rise to a world that is similar to Will Smith’s “I, Robot”, which features both artificial life and limbs.

Developing a robotic hand could easily translate into more advanced prosthetics as well. A hand like this could give amputees the ability to have an artificial limb that more closely resembles the real thing. It would be the first stepping stone to giving Luke his hand back.

The technology that is found in a galaxy far, far away is coming very, very quickly. We are harnessing the infinite human capacity for imagination to create a better world. The days where science was fiction will become a science reality.

Eric Cawley is an occasional blogger for Gary Stringham & Associates. Gary provides consulting and expert witness services in embedded systems such as robotics. Feel free to contact Gary at 208-939-6984.