Army Vet Amputee Reaches New Heights by Rock Climbing With New Prosthetic

— -- A new prosthetic arm dubbed "Luke" by its developers, allowed one Army vet to successfully rock climb.

In a video put out by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, DARPA, an Army veteran uses the DEKA arm system to scale a near-vertical rock wall.

The prosthetic device is affectionately called "Luke" after Luke Skywalker of "Star Wars" fame, according to the DEKA Research and Development Corporation. The project was sponsored by DARPA.

The agency has been working to revolutionize the world of prosthetics through its HAPTIX (Hand Proprioception and Touch Interfaces) program, which aims to create a "prosthetic hand system that moves and provides sensation like a natural hand."

Luke Skywalker gets a prosthetic in "Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back" after losing his hand in a duel with Darth Vader.