How we build soft robotic hearts

Published on Feb 14, 2018

Heart In Your Hands invites you to hold a beautifully designed robotic heart beating in time with your own, or of your loved ones, to arouse a deeper appreciation and to inspire empathy toward this hidden engine of our lives.

Engineer Richard Sewell, artist Natasha Rosling and designer Helen White worked closely with biomedical engineer Dr David Nordsletten to design an intimate experience to stimulate a more fundamental understanding of cardiac mechanics and the engineers that are advancing our understanding of our hearts and heart health.

The team developed a bespoke method of building soft robotics technology to give the public the experience of what it would be like to hold their own heart beating in their hands.

In collaboration with Dr David Nordsletten and Biomedical Engineers at King’s College London, Funded by the Royal Academy of Engineering and the British Heart Foundation.