A bionic prosthetic hand controlled from a phone
Aether Biomedical makes Zeus, a bionic prosthetic hand. We designed and built a mobile app in which users switch modes and grips, calibrate EMG signals and practice with a training plan, plus a web dashboard for the clinicians who look after patients.
- UX/UI
- Mobile app
- Web app
- Development
- Category
- Mobile · Web
- Scope
- Web app · Mobile app (iOS, Android)
- Industry and model
- B2C · Healthcare · HIPAA
- Technologies
- Dart, Flutter, Laravel, PHP, React
- Website
- aetherbiomedical.com ↗
Challenge
A prosthetic hand has more than a dozen settings, and its user often operates the phone with one hand only.
Zeus responds to muscle signals read by electrodes. To work well, it needs the right modes and grips, signal gain and thresholds, and then the user has to learn to control it, ideally with a clinician’s support, including remotely.
We designed the app so every action can be done with one hand: large touch targets, key actions within thumb reach and short paths. Because it handles medical data and targets the US market, the whole solution was built to meet HIPAA requirements.
From first connection to everyday use
The app guides users from setting up the phone, through learning to control the hand, to adjusting settings together with a clinician.
- 01
Sign-in and permissions
Account, PIN or biometrics, a verification code and the permissions needed to connect to the prosthesis over Bluetooth.
- 02
Everyday control
Modes, the active grip and grip switching on the home screen, with signal preview and gain in the EMG tab.
- 03
Training plan
Daily tasks with a video, an exercise on a live EMG signal and a short quiz, with badges for each completed day.
- 04
Session with a clinician
The clinician changes the configuration remotely, and the user sees in the app what is happening and when they can continue.
First launch
A short start: the app explains why it needs permissions, and a PIN or Face ID speeds up sign-in.
Controlling the prosthesis
The home screen shows modes and the active grip. The EMG tab is a chart of electrode signals, gain sliders and skin contact quality.
Training plan
Fourteen days of learning to control the hand. Each day has a video, an exercise on a live signal and a quiz, ending with a summary and a badge.
Session with a clinician
A remote session has clear states: in progress, configuration changing, change saved, session closed. Separately, there is a fallback mode warning.
Dashboard for clinicians
A web app in which specialists look after patients, check prosthesis usage and configure it remotely or in the clinic.
Patients and messages
The dashboard starts with a patient list, with three actions for each patient: hand configuration, profile and remote session. Below is an inbox of requests with the status of each case.
Patient profile
The patient profile shows their devices with mobile app status, training goals and a chart of prosthesis usage time split into active and inactive time.
Grip configurator
Once connected to the hand, the clinician sets the start and end position of each finger for the selected grip and sees a preview right away. Configurations can be saved as templates.
Scope of work
UX/UI
A one-handed mobile app covering onboarding, control, EMG, the training plan and remote sessions, plus a web dashboard for clinicians.
Development
A Flutter mobile app for Android and iOS, a React dashboard and a Laravel and PHP backend.
Launch and security
A HIPAA-compliant solution, ready to work with medical data on the US market.
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