A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away there was a man who lost his hand in a lightsaber duel. Since Star Wars took place in a futuristic universe, Luke Skywalker was easily able to get a replacement hand that gave him full feeling and functionality. We, however, do not live in a galaxy far, far away.

While prosthetic limbs are not a new concept to our world, a recent break through could be drawing us towards that fantasy ending.  Those who lose limbs in accidents or war have to learn how to adjust to life without that appendage. When one of these people gets their prosthetic limb, it acts to help fill the hole, but never really replaces the feeling. Earlier in February, a report was made by BBC News that a Danish man, Dennis Aabo, who lost his arm, is being used to test up-and-coming bionic technology that would enable the wearer to be able to feel what they are doing. A group of neuroscientists, engineers, surgeons and robotics experts from Germany, Italy and Switzerland all gathered together to work on this ground-breaking project. Just trying out this device was risky and time consuming for this Danish man to do. In order for him to even try on the bionic hand, he had to go through two operations and had to take a month out of his life to spend with the scientists who were inventing it.

The biggest difference that Aabo noticed was that when he would pick something up, he could feel where his hand and arm were going. He could pick up objects in the dark without having to look, just as those who have full use of their arms do. This is the biggest development in this area that a civilian was able to take part in.

Unfortunately, this arm is still very much in the prototype phase. It was a very dangerous surgery that they had to perform on Aabo that took months of research and practice surgery on pigs and cadavers to make sure they put the right sensors on the right nerves. Even after they are done with that, there are too many external cables to be considered safe for everyday people to use. If it was safe, the cables still had to connect to a generator all the time, so there is no way for it to be used by the public at this time. However, this technology is still a great step in the right direction. While true bionic hands from Star Wars might be a distant dream, we are one step closer to achieving it.