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The “FreeSwim” Prosthesis is a project by Stuart Baynes, an Industrial Design student at Victoria University in New Zealand. The idea behind the project is to utilize computational fabrication and 3-D printing technologies to help alleviate many of the difficulties amputees face in their day-to-day lives, which in this case would be swimming. The FreeSwim Prosthesis is specifically made to aim ‘trans-tibial’ amputees swim, it is a fin-like prosthetic that is attached to the leg, which in turn helps amputees propel themselves in the water and stay afloat, it also similarly helps them get in and out of the pool/water by themselves.
I find this project particularly interesting because it shows the full range of what computational fabrication, specifically 3-D printing, in this case, is capable of. There are so many possibilities out there to explore within the realm of computational fabrication, from architecture and designing furniture all the way to helping the physically disadvantaged.