Robert Downey Jr. Delivers A Real-Life Iron Man Arm to a Young Fan
Meet Iron Boy.
In the remarkably sweet video above, Robert Downey Jr. introduces himself to a 7-year-old boy named Alex, a big comic-book fan who was born with a partially developed right arm. Downey, who greets Alex in a hotel suite, has a surprise for him: His very own bionic, Iron Man arm.
The mechanical arm was designed and printed by Albert Manero, a college student at the University of Central Florida who makes cheap bionic arms with his classmates to give to disabled children. His group, Limbit Solutions, uses electrical muscular signals to better connect the user with the bionic limb. What’s perhaps even more impressive is that a little Iron Man arm costs just $350 to 3D print, while standard prosthetic limbs can cost upwards of $40,000.
Alex and Downey were set up by Microsoft’s Collective Project, which highlights people doing good deeds with the help of technology. The Collective Project, in turn, did their own good deed, filming the encounter between Downey and Alex and allowing us to see the excited (but composed!) kid meet his hero and have his life changed. “Honored to present a bionic #IronMan arm to Alex through @MSOneNote’s #CollectiveProject. Check the bowtie. #dapper”, Downey tweeted.
In fact, as Downey points out in the video, Alex’s Iron Man appendage is even better than the movie version. It’s amazing to watch Alex be able to immediately move the fingers on his new arm.
If Robert Downey, Jr. ever ends up leaving the Marvel Universe, we’re all for having Alex take over the franchise. Especially if he keeps that bow tie.
