A bionic star in the making
At Tusko, we’re curious about the world around us. It’s part of why we make the films we make and share the stories we want to tell. When we were approached by Open Bionics to make a series of videos focusing on their bionic designs, we were bowled over by their vision and capability to create positive change.
Open Bionics are an innovative tech company based in north Bristol who provide high tech, low cost prosthetics to people missing limbs. While they had leverage press relationships and ambassadors, they wanted to take their engagement up a notch, with a series of high quality videos that performed well online.
We didn’t let them down - our videos generated £1.7 million worth of sales enquiries for their new product, the Hero Arm. They also saw an increase in comments of 929% following our work with them.
For us, one of the best things about this experience was meeting the incredible Tilly.
As a baby, Tilly contracted meningitis, requiring both of her arms to be amputated below the elbow. But she hasn’t once let that stop her, and this amazing 12-year-old has dreams to perform as an actress, singer and dancer on some of the world’s biggest stages. With an innovative Open Bionics Hero Arm, she’s now able to perform with a range of delicate, nuanced movements that were not available to her before.
She told Open Bionics,
“I love the Hero Arm! It’s so much fun to use and I’m finding out new things I can do with it everyday. I’m a very independent person! I don’t like relying on other people, which is probably why I’ve adapted so well. ”
““I can do pretty much everything people with hands can do. I love the fact that I can pose and do other things that I could do before but just a little easier.” ”
This inspiring fighter’s dreams look set to come true sooner rather than later. Last night during a spot of Bake Off binging (we need our downtime too!), we spotted Tilly and her Hero Arms in a new O2 advert celebrating individuality and difference.
Go Tilly!
And while Tilly’s arms from Open Bionics are incredible, they aren’t the only company in Bristol who are pushing the boundaries of technological innovation. Ultrahaptics are bringing sci-fi special effects to real life with their ‘virtual touch’ technology, Minirig are using engineering experience to create tiny speakers with a powerful audio punch, and Rovco is changing the face of surveying ocean beds using 3D and AI.
So much innovation is happening in Bristol that it makes this a really exciting time to be in the city. Here’s hoping we get to tell more stories like Tilly’s long into the future.