Nick Glass travels to Johns Hopkins University in the U.S. state of Maryland to take a look at the world's most advanced bionic arm. 尼克．葛拉斯前往美國馬里蘭州的約翰霍普金斯大學，看看世界上最先進的仿生手臂。
So, this is your bionic arm? 所以，這就是你的仿生手臂？
Yes. We call this the modular prosthetic limb, or MPL. 沒錯，我們把它稱為模組化義肢，簡稱 MPL。
This is the most sophisticated arm in the world. It can do virtually everything that your natural limb can do. 這是世界上最精密的手臂。你天生的手臂能夠做的事，它幾乎都能做到。
That's quite a claim. 口氣不小呢。
Yes, it is. This arm has 26 individual joints that we can control. 是真的，這隻手臂有二十六個我們可以控制的獨立關節。
Has there ever been an arm quite like it? 以前出現過像這樣的手臂嗎？
Never. So this arm is intended to work with your brain just like your natural arm works. 從來沒有。這隻手臂的目的在於與你的大腦運作，就像你天生的手臂一樣。
Johnny Matheny from West Virginia worked in the baking trade until he lost his left arm to cancer in 2008. 來自西維吉尼亞州的強尼．馬森尼原本在烘焙業工作，後來在二○○八年因癌症而喪失了左臂。
He heard about the bionic arm and signed up as soon as he could. 他聽說了這隻仿生手臂的消息，一有機會就立刻提出申請。
The bionic arm weighs much the same as a normal one, about nine pounds. 這隻仿生手臂與自然手臂差不多一樣重，大約九磅。
And it can mimic pretty much anything a normal hand can do, has almost the same dexterity, 自然的手做得到的動作，這隻手臂差不多都模仿得了，靈巧度也差不多，
26 joints, 100 sensors as we've been told, also 17 motors and a tiny computer built into the palm of the hand. 如同人家跟我們說的，共有二十六個關節、一百個感應器，還有十七個馬達和一個內建於手掌內的微小電腦。
The effect is almost musical. 由此造成的效果幾乎像音樂一樣美妙。
And, what's it like? 裝上這隻手臂是什麼感覺呢？
It's crazy. I mean, to actually be able to work a hand just like you had. 太神奇了。我是說，能真正用這麼一隻手工作，就像你原本的手一樣。
I mean, in 2008 when they took the arm, I never figured I'd ever have another actual hand. 我的手臂在二○○八年切除之後，我從沒想過我還會再有一隻真的手可用。
I'd seen the hooks and I figured that's exactly what I'd be getting. 我看過裝著鉤子的義肢，以為我這輩子就只有那種手臂了。
And then they come out with this and it's like, "Wow." 然後，他們設計出了這種手臂，讓我忍不住驚呼。
The arm has to be carefully programmed on computer, coded to respond to electrical impulses from Johnny's stump. 這隻手臂必須在電腦上仔細設定程式、編碼，好回應強尼的殘肢傳來的電脈衝。
He thinks about moving his old arm. 他想著移動他原有的手臂。
You can see the impulses on the screen, little waves and squiggles. 你可以看到螢幕上顯示的脈衝，這些小小的波形和彎彎曲曲的線條。
The computer recognizes each pattern and makes the bionic arm move accordingly. 電腦能夠辨識每一種模式，然後讓仿生手臂做出相應的動作。
At the beginning, did Johnny believe it would work? 一開始，強尼相信這隻手臂能用嗎？
Well, you know, you believe it, but there's always, you know, that little bit of doubt that, you know, it's not going to work. 嗯，相信啊，但還是不免會有一點點疑慮，認為可能不能用。
And when it did it was like, "Whoosh, yeah! I was ready. Give me more. Give me more." 一旦真的能用之後，感覺是「耶！我準備好了。再多來一點，再多來一點。」
It was time to have a go myself, to slip on a special glove with sensors linked up to the bionic arm. 接下來就是我親身體驗的時間了，套上一只特殊手套，手套上有和仿生手臂連線的感應器。
How like my real arm and hand is this? 這和我的真實手臂和手掌有多像？
It can do virtually anything that you can do with your natural hand, OK. 你天生的手能夠做的事情，這隻手臂幾乎都能做到。
You can move... yeah you can move your wrist. Right, it's very fluid. 你可以動……對，你可以活動你的手腕，沒錯，非常流暢。
My goodness, I could wave like the queen. 我的老天，我可以像女王一樣揮手。
That's right. You can think about things like, you know, playing the piano eventually, doing very complex types of things. 沒錯。你可以想像一下，例如最後能夠彈奏鋼琴，做非常複雜的類型的事。
You imagine someone with bionic arms playing the piano? 你認為以後會有人能夠以仿生手臂彈鋼琴？
I think we'll get there someday. We're not there yet, but we'll get there. 我認為我們有一天能夠做到那樣的地步。我們目前還沒達到，可是將來會的。
Do you feel privileged? 你會不會覺得自己很幸運？
Oh, yes, very privileged, very privileged to be able to do this, to show, you know, any upper amputee person, you know, what is... what they'll be able to do. 噢，會啊，非常幸運，非常幸運能夠用這隻手臂，可以示範讓上肢截肢者知道做……他們能夠做什麼事情。
It's going to be... what's coming their way, it's not going to be, you know, the way of the future, the future is coming now. 這將是……即將來臨的這種發展不是未來的模式，而是現在就已經實現了。