For years, Brazilian classical pianist João Carlos Martins, 80, was restricted from playing the instrument he’d mastered and adored since he was 8-years-old after losing dexterity in his hands. After twenty years of limitations, the former concert pianist was finally able to perform again, thanks to “bionic gloves” made by industrial designer Ubiratan Bizarro.
On November 7, Martins sat at his piano wearing the bionic gloves and finally got to play his favorite Bach sonatas after all these years. It was a beyond emotional moment for the musician.
Martins said:
When he showed me the gloves, I joked that they were for boxing, not to play the piano.
The black neoprene gloves, made by a 3D printer, have rods that spring the fingers back up after they are lowered down onto the keys, allowing the pianist to play.
In the past, Martins performed with top orchestras in Europe and the United States and was a celebrated interpreter of Bach’s complete keyboard works. However, injuries and health issues ended his career as a pianist. In 1965, a soccer injury left him with nerve damage to his arm, followed by a 1995 mugging in Bulgaria where his right hand got injured, along with injuries to his skull and brain after the mugger hit him over the head with a metal pipe.
For several years he played with one hand and a thumb but couldn’t even do that after losing the use of the left hand due to focal dystonia, a neurological condition that affects the muscles causing involuntary muscular contractions. Overall, the pianist has undergone 24 surgeries, with the latest surgery on his left hand.
However, Martins didn’t give up on his passion. Once the musician could no longer continue as a pianist, he pushed on forward, redirected himself, and became a successful conductor. Since the early 2000s, he has led some of the world’s most remarkable orchestras in performances worldwide.
Meanwhile, Martins never stopped looking for a solution to his hand problems, the pianist tried over one hundred gadgets, but nothing worked – until now. “To be able to use all ten fingers again more than 20 years later is a miracle for me at the age of 80,” he commended.
When creating the gloves, Bizarro got inspiration from Formula 1 motor racing technology. Impressively, he spent less than $100 to make the first pair for Martins. Now, the designer plans to mass-produce and export them to Europe under the brand name ‘Bionic Extender Gloves.’
Watch Martins play the piano with his new bionic gloves in the video below.
