Born without a left forearm, Annika Berlin spent her early school years being hyper-aware that she stood out. At the age of nine, she was fitted with a life-like passive prosthetic, complete with custom skin tone, freckles, and hyper-realistic fingernails. While it seemed like the answer to her dreams, the reality fell short. The arm not only offered little functional ability but only slapped a band-aid on what she now realized was a greater issue of her lack of self-acceptance. At 18, she started wearing a more advanced prosthetic hand, then at 21, a more advanced bionic hand. While it didn’t attempt to conform or look ‘life-like,’ it had a very obvious cyborg look. But self-acceptance became a journey, not just for her specific physical disability. Annika believes that her story has the potential to resonate with a wide audience by showing the impact of bionics and the lives of real people.
Annika’s multi-articulated bionic hand is made by Psyonic, a company that designs bionic hands. She will be speaking at a Comic-con panel, Psyonic: Bionic Hands in the Real World on Thursday, 7/20/23 from 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm in Hotel Omni’s Grand Ballroom DE 4th floor.
Where were you born and raised?
Annika Berlin: I was born in upstate New York. Now living on the West Coast. I am currently at the University of Massachusetts Amherst majoring in industrial psychology–user experience business psychology.
You’ve gone through quite a journey. What was it like when you first decided to wear that passive prosthetic at nine years of age?
Annika: It’s a decision I made. But looking back now, I was motivated by insecurity. In middle school, I became very aware of how other people perceived me, and how they reacted to me being different. I grew up with a lack of confidence in that area. So when I saw the prosthetist for the first time, it seemed like the answer to all of my issues. I remember being so excited to go with my mom to look at the available options, which back then were limited. But one available thing was this passive device, which I thought would be the solution to my lack of confidence. So when I first put it on, It looked great, like a person with two hands. But it was passive and kept me from doing more things than I’d been able to do before. I soon realized that what I really needed to do was accept who I was and my situation. I wore it for two days and quickly retired it to my junk drawer at home.
Did you have close friends who supported you?
Annika: Yeah, my friends were super supportive. But when I was growing up, I didn’t know anyone with disabilities. There was and still is a lack of representation of disabled kids in the media. It helps so much to see someone like me.
When did you go back to wearing a prosthetic? At what age?
Annika: I started wearing another prosthetic when I was a senior in high school—at 18. I was more involved in social media and I saw these new devices that were more articulated and bionic looking. So I went back to my prosthetist and began exploring different devices. I now wear one called the Ability Hand, which I’ve been wearing for about two months.
So the mobility in your fingers, is that controlled by the tendons in your arm?
Annika: I’m able to control the hand with the muscle contractions in my arm. There are electrodes in the arm’s socket that press against my skin where my arm ends just below my elbow. I can hold and drink from a coffee cup, no problem. In fact, I can hold a really hot cup of coffee in my bionic hand because I don’t feel the heat (laughs).
Are you active in sports? What do you play?
Annika: Yeah. I play golf. I run a lot. I played soccer in high school. I also do rock climbing.
Is your prosthetic arm strong enough to hold your weight?
Annika: The hand can hold up to 50 pounds. But when I rock climb, I don’t wear my hand.
What about swimming? Going to the beach?
Annika: When I go to the beach, I’ll wear a hand for carrying stuff. But I won’t wear it in the water even though the hand is waterproof. But what connects the hand to the wrist socket is not waterproof.
Is the hand covered with some skin-like material?
Annika: The fingers are silicone. The palm and forearm are carbon fiber. But the fingers do offer touch feedback. The pads on the fingers are pressure sensors, which relate to a vibrational motor in the socket, so when I pick something up, I get a signal from the sensors.
How has this journey affected your self-image and self-acceptance?
Annika: I think the device has really changed the way other people perceive me. Back when I was not wearing the prosthetic, I reacted to people’s expressions of pity, sympathy, or curiosity. But now with the device that has a cool kind of in-your-face cyborg look, the reaction I get is generally one of wonder. For me, it’s been super empowering to have a device that provides so much function. I love talking about and so do people when they see it.
Do you have enough mobility to type on a keyboard?
Annika: I’ll type with all five fingers on my right hand and use my bionic hand to hit the space bar. It’s not at the point where each finger can move independently that quickly.
What role do you play in Psyonic? Besides being an ambassador for the company, are you involved in the development of new products?
Annika: I’m kind of like the lead in user experience right now. I’m the first person to work for them who wears the device. So I provide feedback to engineers on my experience.
Do you use social media to connect with others on your experience?
Annika: Yeah. I want to find a way to connect all the users of these prosthetics. I’m working on a chat room where we can share tips and tricks. Like for cooking or gardening. It’s helpful to know things like how to rotate your wrist. It’s something only users can explain to other users. I’m also kind of a brand ambassador, going to different events and talking about my experience.
Any words of encouragement you have for children with similar disabilities?
Annika: Yeah. For me, it’s a journey of self-acceptance. I still struggle with it sometimes. In terms of children, it’s important to stress that everyone is different in how they face their setbacks. It’s about learning to own your situation. Connecting with others who look like you with similar challenges is important. I work with people who have recently lost a limb and are working to learn to use prosthetics.
