Sarah Demonstrates COVVI Hand On BBC’s Christmas Lectures

In a mesmerising showcase of technological ingenuity, COVVI Advocate Sarah De Lagarde was invited to showcase her bionic arm on The Royal Institution’s Christmas Lectures. The episode, hosted by Professor Mike Wooldridge and premiering on the BBC on Boxing Day, focused on trailblazing AI technologies and innovations across the industry.

The captivating footage provides a glimpse into the remarkable capabilities of the COVVI Hand. The audience at the lectures, as well as viewers at home, were transported into the world of advanced robotics and neural interfaces as they witnessed the seamless synergy between human thought and sophisticated AI algorithms.

Sarah was run over by two London Underground trains at High Barnet Station in September 2022, with her right arm and leg needing to be amputated following a rescue by Yorkshire Air Ambulance. Nine months later, Sarah was fitted at the Dorset Orthopaedic clinic in Amersham and officially joined the COVVI Advocate family. Since then, she has continued to appear on various TV and radio shows, as well as conduct magazine interviews to share her story. As well as campaign for improved safety measures at train stations, she wants to showcase the technology available to amputees and increase awareness of the options available to help those with limb differences live their lives to the fullest.

From the episode’s description, we can see that Professor Mike Wooldridge is focused on asking “What is artificial intelligence? He compares how AI works and learns with how the human brain functions. Exploring the roots of AI, Mike examines real-life neurons in action and explains how artificial neural networks are inspired by neural structures in the brain. The Christmas Lectures are the most prestigious event in the Royal Institution calendar, dating from 1825, when Michael Faraday founded the series. They are the world’s longest running science television series and always promise to inspire and amaze each year through explosive demonstrations and interactive experiments with the live theatre audience.”

You can view the segment of the episode that features Sarah and the COVVI Hand below.