The new bionics that let us run, climb and dance
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0:01 - 0:04Looking deeply inside nature
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0:04 - 0:07through the magnifying glass of science,
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0:07 - 0:09designers extract principles,
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0:09 - 0:11processes and materials
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0:11 - 0:15that are forming the very
basis of design methodology, -
0:15 - 0:18from synthetic constructs that resemble
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0:18 - 0:20biological materials
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0:20 - 0:24to computational methods that
emulate neural processes, -
0:24 - 0:27nature is driving design.
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0:27 - 0:30Design is also driving nature.
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0:30 - 0:32In realms of genetics, regenerative medicine
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0:32 - 0:34and synthetic biology,
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0:34 - 0:36designers are growing novel technologies
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0:36 - 0:41not foreseen or anticipated by nature.
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0:41 - 0:45Bionics explores the interplay
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0:45 - 0:47between biology and design.
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0:47 - 0:51As you can see, my legs are bionic.
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0:51 - 0:54Today I will tell human stories
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0:54 - 0:57of bionic integration,
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0:57 - 0:59how electromechanics attached to the body
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0:59 - 1:02and implanted inside the body
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1:02 - 1:04are beginning to bridge the gap
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1:04 - 1:07between disability and ability,
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1:07 - 1:10between human limitation
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1:10 - 1:12and human potential.
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1:12 - 1:16Bionics has defined my physicality.
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1:16 - 1:19In 1982, both of my legs were amputated
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1:19 - 1:21due to tissue damage from frostbite
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1:21 - 1:24incurred during a mountain climbing accident.
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1:24 - 1:26At that time, I didn't view my body
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1:26 - 1:28as broken.
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1:28 - 1:31I reasoned that a human being
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1:31 - 1:33can never be broken.
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1:33 - 1:36Technology is broken.
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1:36 - 1:39Technology is inadequate.
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1:39 - 1:42This simple but powerful idea
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1:42 - 1:44was a call to arms
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1:44 - 1:46to advance technology
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1:46 - 1:49for the elimination of my own disability
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1:49 - 1:52and ultimately the disability of others.
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1:52 - 1:55I began by developing specialized limbs
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1:55 - 1:57that allowed me to return
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1:57 - 1:59to the vertical world of rock and ice climbing.
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1:59 - 2:02I quickly realized that the artificial part of my body
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2:02 - 2:04is malleable,
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2:04 - 2:08able to take on any form, any function,
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2:08 - 2:11a blank slate through which to create
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2:11 - 2:15perhaps structures that could extend beyond
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2:15 - 2:17biological capability.
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2:17 - 2:19I made my height adjustable.
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2:19 - 2:21I could be as short as five feet or as tall as I'd like.
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2:21 - 2:24(Laughter)
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2:24 - 2:27So when I was feeling badly about myself,
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2:27 - 2:31insecure, I would jack my height up,
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2:31 - 2:33but when I was feeling confident and suave,
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2:33 - 2:35I would knock my height down a notch
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2:35 - 2:37just to give the competition a chance.
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2:37 - 2:41(Laughter) (Applause)
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2:41 - 2:43Narrow, wedged feet allowed me to climb
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2:43 - 2:45steep rock fissures
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2:45 - 2:47where the human foot cannot penetrate,
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2:47 - 2:49and spiked feet enabled me to climb
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2:49 - 2:51vertical ice walls
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2:51 - 2:55without ever experiencing muscle leg fatigue.
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2:55 - 2:58Through technological innovation,
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2:58 - 3:00I returned to my sport stronger and better.
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3:00 - 3:03Technology had eliminated my disability
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3:03 - 3:05and allowed me a new climbing prowess.
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3:05 - 3:07As a young man, I imagined a future world
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3:07 - 3:09where technology so advanced
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3:09 - 3:11could rid the world of disability,
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3:11 - 3:13a world in which neural implants would allow
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3:13 - 3:15the visually impaired to see,
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3:15 - 3:17a world in which the paralyzed could walk
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3:17 - 3:20via body exoskeletons.
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3:20 - 3:23Sadly, because of deficiencies in technology,
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3:23 - 3:25disability is rampant in the world.
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3:25 - 3:28This gentleman is missing three limbs.
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3:28 - 3:30As a testimony to current technology,
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3:30 - 3:32he is out of the wheelchair,
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3:32 - 3:35but we need to do a better job in bionics
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3:35 - 3:38to allow one day full rehabilitation
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3:38 - 3:41for a person with this level of injury.
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3:41 - 3:44At the MIT Media Lab, we've established
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3:44 - 3:45the Center for Extreme Bionics.
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3:45 - 3:47The mission of the center
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3:47 - 3:50is to put forth fundamental science
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3:50 - 3:53and technological capability that will allow
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3:53 - 3:55the biomechatronic and regenerative repair of humans
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3:55 - 3:57across a broad range
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3:57 - 4:01of brain and body disabilities.
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4:01 - 4:04Today, I'm going to tell you how my legs function,
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4:04 - 4:05how they work,
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4:05 - 4:09as a case in point for this center.
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4:09 - 4:11Now, I made sure to shave my legs last night,
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4:11 - 4:14because I knew I'd be showing them off.
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4:14 - 4:17Bionics entails the engineering
of extreme interfaces. -
4:17 - 4:20There's three extreme interfaces in my bionic limbs:
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4:20 - 4:23mechanical, how my limbs are attached
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4:23 - 4:25to my biological body;
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4:25 - 4:28dynamic, how they move like flesh and bone;
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4:28 - 4:29and electrical, how they communicate
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4:29 - 4:31with my nervous system.
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4:31 - 4:34I'll begin with mechanical interface.
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4:34 - 4:37In the area of design, we still do not understand
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4:37 - 4:41how to attach devices to the body mechanically.
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4:41 - 4:44It's extraordinary to me that in this day and age,
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4:44 - 4:46one of the most mature, oldest technologies
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4:46 - 4:49in the human timeline, the shoe,
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4:49 - 4:51still gives us blisters.
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4:51 - 4:52How can this be?
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4:52 - 4:56We have no idea how to attach things to our bodies.
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4:56 - 4:59This is the beautifully lyrical design work
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4:59 - 5:02of Professor Neri Oxman at the MIT Media Lab,
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5:02 - 5:05showing spatially varying exoskeletal impedances,
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5:05 - 5:07shown here by color variation
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5:07 - 5:09in this 3D-printed model.
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5:09 - 5:11Imagine a future where clothing
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5:11 - 5:14is stiff and soft where you need it,
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5:14 - 5:18when you need it, for optimal support and flexibility,
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5:18 - 5:20without ever causing discomfort.
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5:20 - 5:23My bionic limbs are attached to my biological body
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5:23 - 5:25via synthetic skins
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5:25 - 5:27with stiffness variations
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5:27 - 5:32that mirror my underlying tissue biomechanics.
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5:32 - 5:33To achieve that mirroring,
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5:33 - 5:35we first developed a mathematical model
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5:35 - 5:37of my biological limb.
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5:37 - 5:40To that end, we used imaging tools such as MRI
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5:40 - 5:42to look inside my body
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5:42 - 5:44to figure out the geometries and locations
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5:44 - 5:46of various tissues.
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5:46 - 5:47We also took robotic tools.
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5:47 - 5:50Here's a 14-actuator circle
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5:50 - 5:53that goes around the biological limb.
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5:53 - 5:55The actuators come in, find the surface of the limb,
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5:55 - 5:58measure its unloaded shape,
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5:58 - 5:59and then they push on the tissues
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5:59 - 6:01to measure tissue compliances
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6:01 - 6:03at each anatomical point.
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6:03 - 6:06We combine these imaging and robotic data
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6:06 - 6:07to build a mathematical description
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6:07 - 6:09of my biological limb, shown on the left.
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6:09 - 6:11You see a bunch of points, or nodes.
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6:11 - 6:14At each node, there's a color that
represents tissue compliance. -
6:14 - 6:16We then do a mathematical transformation
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6:16 - 6:18to the design of the synthetic skin
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6:18 - 6:20shown on the right,
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6:20 - 6:22and we've discovered optimality is
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6:22 - 6:25where the body is stiff, the
synthetic skin should be soft, -
6:25 - 6:29where the body is soft,
the synthetic skin is stiff, -
6:29 - 6:30and this mirroring occurs
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6:30 - 6:32across all tissue compliances.
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6:32 - 6:34With this framework,
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6:34 - 6:35we produced bionic limbs
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6:35 - 6:39that are the most comfortable limbs I've ever worn.
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6:39 - 6:41Clearly in the future,
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6:41 - 6:44our clothing, our shoes, our braces,
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6:44 - 6:46our prostheses, will no longer be designed
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6:46 - 6:49and manufactured using artisan strategies,
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6:49 - 6:52but rather data-driven quantitative frameworks.
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6:52 - 6:54In that future, our shoes
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6:54 - 6:57will no longer give us blisters.
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6:57 - 7:00We're also embedding sensing and smart materials
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7:00 - 7:01into the synthetic skins.
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7:01 - 7:03This is a material
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7:03 - 7:06developed by SRI International, California.
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7:06 - 7:09Under electrostatic effect, it changes stiffness.
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7:09 - 7:13So under zero voltage, the material is compliant.
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7:13 - 7:14It's floppy like paper.
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7:14 - 7:16Then the button's pushed, a voltage is applied,
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7:16 - 7:20and it becomes stiff as a board.
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7:22 - 7:24We embed this material into the synthetic skin
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7:24 - 7:27that attaches my bionic limb to my biological body.
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7:27 - 7:29When I walk here,
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7:29 - 7:30it's no voltage.
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7:30 - 7:32My interface is soft and compliant.
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7:32 - 7:34The button's pushed, voltage is applied,
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7:34 - 7:35and it stiffens,
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7:35 - 7:37offering me a greater maneuverability
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7:37 - 7:39of the bionic limb.
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7:39 - 7:41We're also building exoskeletons.
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7:41 - 7:44This exoskeleton becomes stiff and soft
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7:44 - 7:46in just the right areas of the running cycle
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7:46 - 7:48to protect the biological joints
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7:48 - 7:51from high impacts and degradation.
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7:51 - 7:53In the future, we'll all be wearing exoskeletons
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7:53 - 7:57in common activities such as running.
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7:57 - 7:58Next, dynamic interface.
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7:58 - 8:01How do my bionic limbs move like flesh and bone?
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8:01 - 8:04At my MIT lab, we study how humans
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8:04 - 8:07with normal physiologies stand, walk and run.
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8:07 - 8:09What are the muscles doing,
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8:09 - 8:11and how are they controlled by the spinal cord?
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8:11 - 8:14This basic science motivates what we build.
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8:14 - 8:16We're building bionic ankles, knees and hips.
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8:16 - 8:19We're building body parts from the ground up.
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8:19 - 8:23The bionic limbs that I'm wearing are called BiOMs.
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8:23 - 8:27They've been fitted to nearly 1,000 patients,
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8:27 - 8:30400 of which have been U.S. wounded soldiers.
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8:30 - 8:33How does it work? At heel
strike, under computer control, -
8:33 - 8:35the system controls stiffness
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8:35 - 8:38to attenuate the shock of the limb hitting the ground.
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8:38 - 8:40Then at mid-stance, the bionic limb outputs
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8:40 - 8:43high torques and powers to lift the person
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8:43 - 8:45into the walking stride,
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8:45 - 8:49comparable to how muscles work in the calf region.
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8:49 - 8:51This bionic propulsion is very important
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8:51 - 8:53clinically to patients.
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8:53 - 8:54So, on the left you see the bionic device
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8:54 - 8:56worn by a lady --
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8:56 - 8:59on the right a passive device worn by the same lady
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8:59 - 9:01that fails to emulate normal muscle function --
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9:01 - 9:04enabling her to do something
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9:04 - 9:05everyone should be able to do,
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9:05 - 9:07go up and down their steps at home.
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9:07 - 9:11Bionics also allows for extraordinary athletic feats.
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9:11 - 9:16Here's a gentleman running up a rocky pathway.
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9:16 - 9:18This is Steve Martin, not the comedian,
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9:18 - 9:22who lost his legs in a bomb blast in Afghanistan.
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9:22 - 9:25We're also building exoskeletal structures
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9:25 - 9:27using these same principles
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9:27 - 9:30that wrap around a biological limb.
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9:30 - 9:33This gentleman does not have
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9:33 - 9:36any leg condition, any disability.
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9:36 - 9:37He has a normal physiology,
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9:37 - 9:40so these exoskeletons are applying
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9:40 - 9:42muscle-like torques and powers
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9:42 - 9:44so that his own muscles need not apply
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9:44 - 9:47those torques and powers.
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9:47 - 9:50This is the first exoskeleton in history
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9:50 - 9:52that actually augments human walking.
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9:52 - 9:55It significantly reduces metabolic cost.
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9:55 - 9:58It's so profound in its augmentation
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9:58 - 10:00that when a normal, healthy person
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10:00 - 10:01wears the device for 40 minutes
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10:01 - 10:03and then takes it off,
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10:03 - 10:05their own biological legs
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10:05 - 10:08feel ridiculously heavy and awkward.
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10:08 - 10:10We're beginning the age in which
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10:10 - 10:11machines attached to our bodies
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10:11 - 10:13will make us stronger and faster
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10:13 - 10:15and more efficient.
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10:15 - 10:17Moving on to electrical interface,
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10:17 - 10:19how do my bionic limbs communicate
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10:19 - 10:20with my nervous system?
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10:20 - 10:23Across my residual limb are electrodes
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10:23 - 10:25that measure the electrical pulse of my muscles.
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10:25 - 10:27That's communicated to the bionic limb,
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10:27 - 10:30so when I think about moving my phantom limb,
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10:30 - 10:34the robot tracks those movement desires.
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10:34 - 10:35This diagram shows fundamentally
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10:35 - 10:38how the bionic limb is controlled,
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10:38 - 10:41so we model the missing biological limb,
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10:41 - 10:44and we've discovered what reflexes occurred,
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10:44 - 10:45how the reflexes of the spinal cord
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10:45 - 10:47are controlling the muscles,
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10:47 - 10:50and that capability is embedded
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10:50 - 10:53in the chips of the bionic limb.
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10:53 - 10:55What we've done, then, is we modulate
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10:55 - 10:57the sensitivity of the reflex,
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10:57 - 10:59the modeled spinal reflex,
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10:59 - 11:00with the neural signal,
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11:00 - 11:04so when I relax my muscles in my residual limb,
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11:04 - 11:06I get very little torque and power,
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11:06 - 11:08but the more I fire my muscles,
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11:08 - 11:09the more torque I get,
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11:09 - 11:12and I can even run.
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11:12 - 11:13And that was the first demonstration
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11:13 - 11:17of a running gait under neural command.
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11:17 - 11:18Feels great.
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11:18 - 11:22(Applause)
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11:24 - 11:26We want to go a step further.
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11:26 - 11:28We want to actually close the loop
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11:28 - 11:32between the human and the bionic external limb.
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11:32 - 11:34We're doing experiments where we're growing
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11:34 - 11:36nerves, transected nerves,
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11:36 - 11:38through channels, or micro-channel rays.
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11:38 - 11:40On the other side of the channel,
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11:40 - 11:42the nerve then attaches to cells,
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11:42 - 11:45skin cells and muscle cells.
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11:45 - 11:47In the motor channels we can sense
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11:47 - 11:49how the person wishes to move.
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11:49 - 11:52That can be sent out wirelessly to the bionic limb,
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11:52 - 11:54then sensors on the bionic limb
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11:54 - 11:57can be converted to stimulations
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11:57 - 12:00in adjacent channels, sensory channels.
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12:00 - 12:02So, when this is fully developed
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12:02 - 12:04and for human use,
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12:04 - 12:07persons like myself will not only have
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12:07 - 12:10synthetic limbs that move like flesh and bone,
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12:10 - 12:14but actually feel like flesh and bone.
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12:14 - 12:16This video shows Lisa Mallette
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12:16 - 12:19shortly after being fitted with two bionic limbs.
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12:19 - 12:21Indeed, bionics is making
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12:21 - 12:23a profound difference in people's lives.
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12:23 - 12:27(Video) Lisa Mallette: Oh my God.
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12:27 - 12:32Oh my God, I can't believe it.
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12:32 - 12:36It's just like I've got a real leg.
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12:36 - 12:38Now, don't start running.
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12:38 - 12:40Man: Now turn around,
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12:40 - 12:41and do the same thing walking up.
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12:41 - 12:43Walk up, get on your heel to toe,
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12:43 - 12:45like you would normally just walk on level ground.
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12:45 - 12:48Try to walk right up the hill.
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12:49 - 12:52LM: Oh my God.
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12:52 - 12:53Man: Is it pushing you up?
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12:53 - 12:58LM: Yes! I'm not even -- I can't even describe it.
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12:58 - 13:01Man: It's pushing you right up.
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13:01 - 13:03Hugh Herr: Next week, I'm visiting the center's —
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13:03 - 13:07(Applause) Thank you, thank you.
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13:07 - 13:10Thank you. Next week I'm visiting
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13:10 - 13:13the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services,
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13:13 - 13:15and I'm going to try to convince CMS
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13:15 - 13:18to grant appropriate code language and pricing
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13:18 - 13:20so this technology can be made available
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13:20 - 13:22to the patients that need it.
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13:22 - 13:28Thank you. (Applause)
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13:28 - 13:30It's not well appreciated, but over half
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13:30 - 13:32of the world's population
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13:32 - 13:34suffers from some form of cognitive,
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13:34 - 13:36emotional, sensory or motor condition,
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13:36 - 13:38and because of poor technology,
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13:38 - 13:41too often, conditions result in disability
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13:41 - 13:43and a poorer quality of life.
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13:43 - 13:45Basic levels of physiological function
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13:45 - 13:48should be a part of our human rights.
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13:48 - 13:50Every person should have the right
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13:50 - 13:52to live life without disability
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13:52 - 13:54if they so choose --
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13:54 - 13:57the right to live life without severe depression;
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13:57 - 13:58the right to see a loved one
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13:58 - 14:00in the case of seeing impaired;
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14:00 - 14:02or the right to walk or to dance,
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14:02 - 14:04in the case of limb paralysis
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14:04 - 14:05or limb amputation.
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14:05 - 14:09As a society, we can achieve these human rights
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14:09 - 14:11if we accept the proposition
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14:11 - 14:15that humans are not disabled.
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14:15 - 14:18A person can never be broken.
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14:18 - 14:21Our built environment, our technologies,
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14:21 - 14:23are broken and disabled.
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14:23 - 14:26We the people need not accept our limitations,
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14:26 - 14:28but can transcend disability
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14:28 - 14:30through technological innovation.
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14:30 - 14:32Indeed, through fundamental advances
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14:32 - 14:34in bionics in this century,
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14:34 - 14:36we will set the technological foundation
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14:36 - 14:38for an enhanced human experience,
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14:38 - 14:41and we will end disability.
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14:41 - 14:43I'd like to finish up with one more story,
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14:43 - 14:45a beautiful story,
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14:45 - 14:48the story of Adrianne Haslet-Davis.
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14:48 - 14:50Adrianne lost her left leg
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14:50 - 14:53in the Boston terrorist attack.
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14:53 - 14:54I met Adrianne when this photo was taken
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14:54 - 14:57at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital.
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14:57 - 14:59Adrianne is a dancer, a ballroom dancer.
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14:59 - 15:02Adrianne breathes and lives dance.
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15:02 - 15:04It is her expression. It is her art form.
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15:04 - 15:07Naturally, when she lost her limb
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15:07 - 15:08in the Boston terrorist attack,
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15:08 - 15:11she wanted to return to the dance floor.
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15:11 - 15:14After meeting her and driving home in my car,
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15:14 - 15:17I thought, I'm an MIT professor.
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15:17 - 15:19I have resources. Let's build her a bionic limb
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15:19 - 15:23to enable her to go back to her life of dance.
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15:23 - 15:25I brought in MIT scientists with expertise
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15:25 - 15:28in prosthetics, robotics, machine learning
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15:28 - 15:29and biomechanics,
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15:29 - 15:32and over a 200-day research period,
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15:32 - 15:33we studied dance.
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15:33 - 15:37We brought in dancers with biological limbs,
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15:37 - 15:40and we studied how do they move,
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15:40 - 15:43what forces do they apply on the dance floor,
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15:43 - 15:45and we took those data
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15:45 - 15:49and we put forth fundamental principles of dance,
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15:49 - 15:50reflexive dance capability,
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15:50 - 15:52and we embedded that intelligence
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15:52 - 15:54into the bionic limb.
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15:54 - 15:56Bionics is not only about making people
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15:56 - 15:57stronger and faster.
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15:57 - 16:00Our expression, our humanity
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16:00 - 16:03can be embedded into electromechanics.
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16:03 - 16:06It was 3.5 seconds
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16:06 - 16:08between the bomb blasts
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16:08 - 16:09in the Boston terrorist attack.
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16:09 - 16:12In 3.5 seconds, the criminals and cowards
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16:12 - 16:15took Adrianne off the dance floor.
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16:15 - 16:18In 200 days, we put her back.
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16:18 - 16:21We will not be intimidated, brought down,
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16:21 - 16:23diminished, conquered or stopped
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16:23 - 16:25by acts of violence.
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16:25 - 16:29(Applause)
-
16:33 - 16:35Ladies and gentlemen, please allow me to introduce
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16:35 - 16:37Adrianne Haslet-Davis,
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16:37 - 16:40her first performance since the attack.
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16:40 - 16:43She's dancing with Christian Lightner.
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16:43 - 16:49(Applause)
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16:54 - 17:01(Music: "Ring My Bell" performed by Enrique Iglesias)
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17:39 - 17:46(Applause)
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18:10 - 18:11Ladies and gentlemen,
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18:11 - 18:13members of the research team,
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18:13 - 18:17Elliott Rouse and Nathan Villagaray-Carski.
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18:18 - 18:20Elliott and Nathan.
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18:20 - 18:27(Applause)
- Title:
- The new bionics that let us run, climb and dance
- Speaker:
- Hugh Herr
- Description:
-
Hugh Herr is building the next generation of bionic limbs, robotic prosthetics inspired by nature's own designs. Herr lost both legs in a climbing accident 30 years ago; now, as the head of the MIT Media Lab’s Biomechatronics group, he shows his incredible technology in a talk that's both technical and deeply personal — with the help of ballroom dancer Adrianne Haslet-Davis, who lost her left leg in the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, and performs again for the first time on the TED stage.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 19:00
Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for The new bionics that let us run, climb and dance | ||
Camille Martínez edited English subtitles for The new bionics that let us run, climb and dance | ||
Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for The new bionics that let us run, climb and dance | ||
Krystian Aparta commented on English subtitles for The new bionics that let us run, climb and dance | ||
Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for The new bionics that let us run, climb and dance | ||
Morton Bast edited English subtitles for The new bionics that let us run, climb and dance | ||
Morton Bast edited English subtitles for The new bionics that let us run, climb and dance | ||
Morton Bast edited English subtitles for The new bionics that let us run, climb and dance |
Krystian Aparta
The English transcript was updated on 6/22/2015.