The Third Thumb is a 3D-printed thumb extension for your hand, controlled by your toes. The project explores the future relationship between our bodies and augmentative and prosthetic technology. It is part tool, part experience, and part research; a model by which we can better understand human response to artificial extensions. The Third Thumb is currently being developed and utilized for neuroscientific research to explore the boundaries of neuroplasticity and investigate how our brains and bodies can adapt to augmentation in the future.

In this unique collaboration, initiated for Jerusalem Design Week, Dani Clode – the designer of the Third Thumb – has teamed up with custom luxury glove designer Riina Õun to create a 6-fingered glove inspired by the late 19th century circus, with a nod to the complex history of celebrating a different definition of normal.