
DESIGN FICTION
“Claw” Robotic Limb Harness
How might robotics and AI give us extra limbs?
The subject
Subject
How might we gain extra limbs with robotics and AI?
Signals
Timeframe

More about the signals
The speculation
THE FUTURE SCENARIO
Supernumerary robotic limbs could utilise both limb mimicry and predictive AI to copy the actions of our human arms or to predict what extra help we might need.
Not only might they give use extra limbs to improve productivity and creativity, they could give limbs to those who lost limbs or were born without them.

The DESIGN FICTION
Titan’s Claw© Robotic Limb Harness is a new generation of supernumerary robotic limbs that enhance your ability, productivity, and creativity.
Medium
Values*
*Future Scouting aims to champion values during futuring to ensure we are always fostering our preferred futures.
1. Digital Mock Up
The Double Claw—using human-limb mimicry and pre-emptive assistance, the Double Claw is the ultimate in productivity for both human and android workers.
The Single Claw—using human-limb mimicry, the 2-Claw enhances worker productivity
2. Future Web Page
A promotional product web page from “Titan”, a fictional future transhumanist technology company, to use a marketing lens as a means of generating new use cases and product detail.
Titan’s Claw© Robotic Limb Harness is designed to assist in situations where your inherent arms are already utilised. The Claw can hold something in place, perform complimentary tasks that require dexterity, and speed up the completion of labour-intensive tasks.
Titan’s new-generation RLH uses two or four robotic arms mounted on your back, and can be controlled by shoulder gestures, voice commands and mimicry of your natural actions.
Advanced robotics affords greater strength, dexterity and agility.
3. Storified as a feature concept in the sci-fi novel Amanojaku
Amanojaku, by Damien Lutz, is set in a not-too-distant future inhabited by intelligent androids and transhumanists—people incorporating technology into their bodies to enhance and evolve their human experience.

A young Finn develops a working prototype for AI-enabled robotic limbs to help him work faster.

Finn sells his invention to Titan, the transhumanist technology company who improve and innovate the robotic limb harness.

Andre Cross, the protagonist in Amanojaku, wears his robotic limb harness…

As he slaves away in the vertical farms owned by Titan.
