Playing the scales on the piano may never be the same again after scientists developed a robotic thumb to be added to one hand.
Neuroscientist Adlo Faisal and the team he heads at Imperial College London developed the extra digit to discover how pianists would cope.
Within an hour of being fitted with the artificial digit next to the little finger of their right hand, six players had learned to integrate it on the keyboard, steered by electrical signals generated when they move their foot.
Prof Faisal said: “So now comes the question, if I give you an eleventh finger, … are you processing it the same way as you’re processing a regular limb?”
Regardless of playing ability, the six pianists and six other non-playing volunteers all adapted to the thumb quickly.
