At this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, the crowd froze as two robotic arms extended from a steadicam vest. Each of them ends not in metallic claws, but in remarkably humanlike bionic hands.
Psyonic, the company behind this creation, is redefining what it means to merge human movement with machine precision.
“We didn’t build this just for cosplay, we built it to show that the same hands designed for people can work just as well on robots.”
says Dr. Aadeel Akhtar, CEO of PSYONIC, as he controlled the hands attached to the Doc Ock suit using MANUS Metagloves Pro.
At the core of the suit are two AgileX robotic arms, each fitted with a PSYONIC Ability Hand. While the comic-book Doc Ock used mechanical claws, PSYONIC’s version uses true prosthetic-grade bionic hands.
By mounting those hands onto robotic arms, the team set out to demonstrate a seamless fusion of human dexterity and robotic strength. The arms are anchored to a steadicam vest for balance, with a custom backplate housing the onboard computer, batteries, and power system. Lightweight EVA-foam shells give the arms their dramatic, mechanical silhouette without sacrificing mobility.
The suit’s teleoperation system is powered by MANUS Metagloves Pro, which deliver precise, real-time hand tracking. The gloves support ROS 2 and SDK integration on Linux, making them highly compatible with the PSYONIC Ability Hand, which also operates on ROS 2 and C++ for Linux. This combination enables low-latency, high-accuracy control between the operator’s movements and the robotic hands.
As more clients explore teleoperation for robots in hazardous or remote environments, the project demonstrates how naturally the MANUS–PSYONIC setup translates human motion into robotic dexterity. Integrating the gloves into this suit serves as a clear example of how intuitive and accessible teleoperation can feel in practice.
While the suit draws inspiration from science fiction, its purpose extends far beyond visual impact. For PSYONIC, the project represents a statement that bionics are no longer fiction. By adapting prosthetic-grade technology for robotics, PSYONIC and MANUS showcase how the same engineering that empowers human users can also enhance robots, unlocking new possibilities for teleoperation, rehabilitation, and accessibility.
The Doc Ock-inspired suit exemplifies what happens when prosthetic engineering meets robotics and immersive teleoperation through MANUS Metagloves Pro. It demonstrates that the same hands designed to restore human ability can also give robots the dexterity they’ve long been missing.
