BY ANNA PULLEY
Six years ago, drummer Jason Barnes lost his arm in an accident. But this tragedy has not deterred him. In some ways, it’s pushed him to strive for superhuman drumming ability.
Barnes has been working with Georgia Tech’s Institute for Robotics and Intelligent Machines to develop a cyborg arm that enables him not only to play his kit again, but to “push what’s humanly possible, with unbelievable speed and virtuosic capabilities.”
The rub is that Barnes can’t take the prosthetic arm with him — it belongs to Georgia Tech. So he and the engineer helping him, Gil Weinberg, launched a Kickstarter to build him another bionic arm that Barnes can use to make music and play it on the road.
Barnes’ goal is ambitious, $90,000, and he needs considerable help if he’s to meet it by the May 23 deadline. Watch the video above to learn more about Barnes, the prosthetic, and the inspiring ways technology is helping musicians overcome considerable limitations.