Thursday 3 April 2014

TED Talk: Hugh Herr, The new bionics that let us run, climb and dance

TED has a lot of great talks on a lot of great topics and this one is no exception.  It's amazing how far we've come with regards to prosthetic limbs and bionics.

My favourite quote from the talk:

13:38It's not well appreciated, but over half of the world's population suffers from some form of cognitive,emotional, sensory or motor condition, and because of poor technology, too often, conditions result in disability and a poorer quality of life. Basic levels of physiological function should be a part of our human rights. Every person should have the right to live life without disability if they so choose -- the right to live life without severe depression; the right to see a loved one in the case of seeing impaired; or the right to walk or to dance, in the case of limb paralysis or limb amputation. As a society, we can achieve these human rights if we accept the proposition that humans are not disabled. A person can never be broken.Our built environment, our technologies, are broken and disabled. We the people need not accept our limitations, but can transcend disability through technological innovation. Indeed, through fundamental advances in bionics in this century, we will set the technological foundation for an enhanced human experience, and we will end disability. (13:38-14:51)

I tried embedding the video and for some reason it wouldn't work, so here's the link.

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