The new bionics that let us run, climb and dance
The next TED-talk was recommended to me in a seminar of Steven Van Belleghem. He talked about the digital revolution and the future of us, humans. I was so inspired by the subject. It was amazing to see that we are already capable of so many things. F.e. cars without any drivers, personalized tv-shows, robots planning your day… All these things are already out there. The only things stopping this revolutionary inventions are humans. We are not ready to face the changes that come along.
Hugh Herr tells us a similar story. Only his kind of revolution can actually change lives for the better. In 1982 both of his legs were amputated due to tissue damage after a mountain-climbing accident. Some people might thing that he would feel broken after this, but he didn’t. Deep in his heart, he knew he would walk again. He quickly began to manufacture his own limbs again. He realized that once he created the limbs, he was able to do more than was ever humanly possible. For example he putted spikes on his shoes so he was able to climb vertically. Through technological innovation he returned to his sport stronger and better. These are the new bionics that let us run, climb and dance.
But I was most of all curious about how it all works. Apparently there are 3 extreme interphases in his bionic limb: mechanical: how the limbs are attached to the body, dynamic: how they move like flesh and bone and electrical: how they communicate with his nervous system. He explains everything very clearly, but obviously the way everything works is still a miracle to me. I’m thrilled that science is taking care of the ones that need it the most. When mother nature fails to do her job, people like Hugh Herr step in and set the technological foundation for an enhanced human experience.
At the end of his presentation he wanted us to get to know Adrian Davis. She lost her left leg after a terrorist attack. She is a dancer, she lives and breathes through dance. When she lost her leg, the only thing she wanted to do was dance again. Some MIT-scientists made her a bionic limb, so she could go back to her dance-life. During a 200-day research period they studied dancers and the way they move. They took those data and embedded that in the bionic limb. When she came on stage and performed for the first time with her new leg, I was moved. I’m a dancer too and I can’t imagine what she has been through. It was a beautiful thing to see and it was an eye-opener. We have to focus more on the things that count. Like Hugh said: a person can’t be disabled, technology is.
