Robert Downey, Jr. Delivers Real 3D-Printed Bionic Arm To 7-Year-Old Boy [Video]


Robert Downey, Jr. might be best known as Iron Man or for his other movie roles, but on Thursday, the actor was making news for being a part of a project that helped a young man get a new bionic arm, just like in the movies. Downey, Jr. quipped that the folks who made the 3D printed arm for the 7-year-old boy named Alex could potentially help get his film character’s costume go down in cost, which is like a billion dollars, said the celebrity.

https://youtu.be/oEx5lmbCKtY

Either way, the video of the star of movies like Iron Man and Avengers presenting Alex with his new arm is quite sweet, with Downey not introducing himself as a movie star at first. But Alex, a big fan of superheroes, knows who the action star is all the same, and politely and shyly answers that he knows that “Robert” is Iron Man sitting next to him. Published on March 12, the YouTube video, titled The Collective Project: Robert Downey Jr. Delivers a Real Bionic Arm, chronicling the event is going viral, thanks to Reddit and Downey, Jr on Twitter.

The YouTube description provides more details about the creator of the 3D arm and his foundation.

“Robert Downey Jr. and Albert Manero, a #CollectiveProject student who founded Limbitless, surprised a very special child with a new bionic 3D printed arm at no cost to the family. To learn more about Albert and the #CollectiveProject visit: Microsoft Office Tumblr: http://office.tumblr.com

Alex is described as a dapper 7-year-old with a fondness for bike riding and other activities, ones that can be challening with a right arm that wasn’t fully developed at birth. That’s why the new arm — which was created by the supersmart Fulbright scholar Manero and given to the boy’s family free of charge — means so much. It’s quite a feat for the University of Central Florida student who spends his time whilst obtaining his PhD in mechanical engineering creating and giving away 3D-printed body parts to children around the world via his Limbitless Solutions foundation.

The price of such a priceless gift is much less than one would imagine, with the bionic arm only costing approximately $350 to make as reported by Microsoft in their ‘The Collective Project‘, which is about 1/100 of the $40,000 it would normally cost to make a similar limb via other means.

As reported by the Inquisitr, Iron Man 4 might happen, but Downey, Jr. could be replaced by a teenager.

[Image via YouTube]

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