Developer 24 Entertainment and Hacksmith Industries have created a bionic arm for one-handed UK content creator Jesse (aka JesseLHV).
Inspired by the bionic arm Naraka: Bladepoint’s newest hero Hadi Ismail wears in-game, the functional prosthetic was donated to the one-handed Naraka player.
Jesse is from the UK and was born without a left hand. That hasn’t stopped him from gaming, challenging stereotypes and reducing stigma with his content.
After the Naraka: Bladepoint development team spotted him play their game, they decided to reach out to JesseLHV and Engineer and YouTuber James Hobson (who runs the Hacksmith Industries channel) about a collaboration.
Since Hacksmith is based in Canada, Jesse went to a hospital in the UK to get his arm 3D scanned, then shared that data with the engineering team overseas.
The outcome is an amazing combination of engineering and art that brings Hadi’s inclusive character design to life. To achieve this, Hacksmith based the arm around an R&D hand from San Diego engineering company Psyonic. Their prosthetic hand comes with an app that lets the user fine-tune its movements and configure crucial intricacies like grip type and strength. Their colleague Logan then transformed this base into a one-of-a-kind bionic limb before Hacksmith flew to the UK to present it personally.
“I thought I’d unbox it, use it and keep it for a few days to record some videos and send it back. But you’ve flown over to give me the hand [to keep] in person! Thank you! I don’t know what to say. Oh my god. Wow. I’m gonna have some fun with this.”
JesseLHV
Jesse’s reaction when trying the hand and learning that he’s allowed to keep it was very touching for everyone involved, including Naraka: Bladepoint’s development team.
“Seeing Jesse’s reaction and how much fun Hacksmith’s team had with this project makes us incredibly happy,” said Ray Kuan, Lead Producer at 24 Entertainment.
“The whole team here followed the project closely since the beginning and seeing our design come to life in such a way makes us all really proud.
“Jesse’s spirit and Hacksmith’s incredible work reflect Naraka’s motto “Unchained” perfectly!”
Jesse has some 1.13m subscribers on YouTube and Hacksmith have 14.4m.
You can check out Hacksmith’s video and JesseLHV’s video about the arm below.
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
