Daniel Melville with his new Metal Gear Solid bionic arm.
Konami/Open Bionics
UK-based gamer Daniel Melville was born without a hand, and thanks to video game publisher Konami and Open Bionics, he now has a super cool new bionic arm based on Venom Snake’s design from Metal Gear Solid.
“This is unbelievable. It’s everything I’ve ever wanted from a bionic arm,” Melville said in a statement. “I’m an avid gamer and love Metal Gear Solid so much, and to actually have Snake’s arm in real life is just insane.”
The fictional character of Venom Snake in Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, released in 2015, lost his arm in an explosion and has a red and black bionic arm, complete with detachable missile functionality and gadgets to stun enemies.
The Venom Snake bionic arm for below-elbow amputees clips onto Open Bionics’ Hero Arm, a multi-grip bionic arm.
While Melville’s bionic arm looks like the same one Venom Snake has in the game, it doesn’t have the same weaponized features. It does enable Melville to tackle everyday functions — including gaming — just like a real arm via special sensors that detect muscle movements.
Daniel Melville shows off his new Metal Gear Solid bionic arm from Konami and Open Bionics.
Konami/Open Bionics
Open Bionics is a Bristol, England-based company that uses 3D printing technology to make bionic arms for amputees that cost less than traditional prosthetics. Each Hero Arm can then be accessorized with magnetic clip-on covers like Melville’s Metal Gear Solid Venom Snake cover.
Previously, Open Bionics created Hero Arms that can look like the red Iron Man gauntlet with a vibrating repulsor, one of Elsa’s sparkling blue gloves from the hit 2013 movie Frozen, hero Adam Jensen’s metal arm from the game Deus Ex: Human Revolution, and a Star Wars-themed arm that lights up with colored LED lights.
