Home Computing Emerging Tech News The successful experimentation points toward a new model for rehabilitation robotics, based on experiential learning. A robotic hand. Unsplash/Possessed Photography In a neuro-robotics lab at the University of Southern California, a small mechanical hand heard a melody for the first time and played it back in a single attempt, without any sheet music, pre-loaded scores, or weeks of supervised training and practice (via USC Viterbi ). The system is called the Musician Hand. It has four fingers, each moved by a tendon connected to a small electric motor, mirroring how muscles actually pull tendons in a human hand. It was built by doctoral candidate Hesam Azadjou under the direction of Professor Francisco Valero-Cuevas. WIRobotics How did the robot actually learn? Through a technique called “motor babbling,” the exploratory trial-and-error process by which humans learn to control their limbs.…