Emotion-Transmitting Prostheses (ETPs) are advanced biomedical devices designed to detect the user’s emotional states by establishing a direct interface with the nervous system, generating motor or sensory responses based on those emotions. Unlike conventional prostheses that primarily restore mechanical functionality, ETPs aim to reestablish an emotional interaction between the user and their environment. These systems operate at the crossroads of biomedical engineering, psychophysiology, and neurotechnology, introducing a new paradigm of emotionally intelligent assistive devices.

Conceptual Background

The emergence of ETPs is based on the understanding that technology should not only compensate for physical loss but also contribute to psychosocial and emotional well-being. Rooted in theories of body awareness and neuroethics, ETPs acknowledge the body as a medium of emotional expression. The philosophical insights of Maurice Merleau-Ponty, who emphasized the body as both physical and meaning-bearing, underpin the ETP framework. Similarly, Antonio Damasio's somatic marker theory highlights how emotional signals play a crucial role in decision-making, reinforcing the view that prosthetics must serve neuropsychological as well as biomechanical functions.

Biomedical Integration

Traditional myoelectric prostheses operate by interpreting muscle signals to trigger movement. ETPs enhance this functionality by incorporating emotional biomarkers such as skin conductivity, heart rate variability, brain wave activity, and hormone levels into their signal processing. These inputs allow the prosthetic to interpret not only the user's motor intent but also the emotional context behind each action, enabling more nuanced and personalized responses.

Technical Structure And Operation

ETPs are composed of interconnected systems designed to detect, process, and respond to emotional states. Affective sensors such as wearable EEG devices, subcutaneous electrodermal activity monitors, and heart rate variability sensors collect physiological data associated with emotions. Hormonal sensors (e.g., cortisol level monitors) further enrich this emotional profiling. This data is processed through a brain-machine interface (BMI), which enables bidirectional communication with the nervous system and interprets neural responses in real time.

The empathic response module converts emotional signals into appropriate sensory or motor outputs. These may include tactile feedback (e.g., rhythmic vibrations during calmness), thermal cues (e.g., surface warming in stress), or visual expressions (e.g., light and color changes). Additionally, ETPs can communicate emotional data to external systems or other users via secure data-sharing protocols. Such features hold the potential for integration into group therapy platforms and socially adaptive technologies.

Areas Of Application

ETPs serve a broad spectrum of therapeutic, technological, and expressive functions. In the field of rehabilitation, they support the restoration of bodily integrity after amputation and offer psychological reinforcement in cases such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression. Through mirror neuron activation feedback, ETPs enhance neural plasticity and emotional self-regulation.

In the domain of human-machine interaction, ETPs facilitate emotional synchronization with social robots or smart environments. This includes behavioral outputs such as a prosthetic hand assuming an inviting posture suitable for hugging, thereby mimicking human empathy. The expressive potential of ETPs also extends to aesthetics and art, allowing for visual-kinetic displays of emotion through movement, surface change, or chromatic modulation.

^{Contact Between a Human Hand and an Emotion-Transmitting Prosthetic Hand. (Created With Artificial Intelligence)}

Ethical And Philosophical Considerations

The integration of emotional responsiveness into prosthetics introduces novel ethical and philosophical challenges. Questions of emotional privacy arise: could the prosthesis inadvertently reveal private affective states? Concerns regarding the authenticity of technologically mediated emotions challenge our understanding of genuine versus simulated feelings. Social acceptance is another issue, as the public visibility of emotionally responsive prosthetics may affect the user’s sense of identity and integration.

These concerns emphasize that the development and deployment of ETPs should be assessed not only through technological criteria but also within neuroethical, social, and psychological frameworks.