Humans will soon have new bodies that forever blur the line between the natural and synthetic worlds, says bionics designer Hugh Herr. In an unforgettable talk, he details "NeuroEmbodied Design," a methodology for creating cyborg function that he's developing at the MIT Media Lab, and shows us a future where we've augmented our bodies in a way t...
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...
At MIT, Hugh Herr builds prosthetic knees, legs and ankles that fuse biomechanics with microprocessors to restore (and perhaps enhance) normal gait, balance and speed.
What is TED? This primer of 11 classic TED Talks show you the wide range of topics covered -- and introduce you to beloved speakers like Amy Cuddy, Brené Brown, Sir Ken Robinson and Chimamanda Adichie. Find your next favorite talk ...
Sometimes it’s easy to think the worst of human beings. But these inspiring talks can help you remember: altruism, kindness and helping hands are all around.
Okorafor’s gripping account of her recovery will inspire any reader.
—Publishers Weekly
About the book
Growing up, most science fiction novels and films presented bold white male-dominated worlds where I knew I could never exist on my own terms.
About the author
“As you can see, my legs are bionic,” said Hugh Herr on the TED2014 stage. "The artificial part of my body is malleable, able to take on any form, any function, a blank slate through which to create structures that can extend beyond biological capability."
Standing tall in a suit hemmed at his knees, Herr spoke eloquently about his work c...
Bionics designer Hugh Herr spoke today on the TED stage about a future in which disability is a mere memory – a future he believes is both imminent and imperative. With pant legs cropped to reveal his own two bionic legs (“I made sure to shave today,” he joked), he explained the fascinating details of his work in the Biomechatronics Group at...
Hugh Herr, director of the Biomechatronics Group at The MIT Media Lab, strolls onto the TED2014 stage in a pair of long, black shorts. Normally, what he's wearing wouldn't be of note—except that he's chosen his ensemble today to show us something. Below the hem of his shorts, we see that he has two prosthetic legs. His lab not only creates b...
When Adrianne Haslet-Davis lost her left foot in the Boston Marathon bombing, her left leg was amputated to the knee. Less than a year later, she's back on her feet and dancing again.
Day 3 at TED2014 was dense with science, design, conversation. Here's a quick recap of some highlights:
Hugh Herr and Adrianne Haslet-Davis's surprise dance
Hugh Herr is a bionics designer and multiple amputee. He gave a talk that was half mind-blowing -- full of extraordinary advances in prosthetics, like bionic designs that produce t...
About this event: You are cordially invited to the next TEDxTheHague salon at our brand new venue! Our September edition — themed The Sky is the Limit — is curated by TEDxTheHague ambassador Paul Rudenko. Paul writes:
"In our September event we look to see if there are limits to how much we can love, how far we can travel and how much we can recover from adve...
Event details: Den Haag, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands · September 12, 2014
During the week of TED, it's tempting to feel like a brain in a jar -- to think on a highly abstracted, intellectual, hypertechnical level about every single human issue. But the speakers in this session remind us that we're still just made of meat. And that our carbon-based life forms aren't problems to be transcended but, if you will, plat...
Technology is always a big theme at TED (it's the "T," after all), and in this session we draw back the curtain to take a closer look at what's really going on within some of the world's most influential companies. But this isn't just about the current headline-grabbers. Speakers will also share thoughts and demos of cutting-edge design to s...
Calling all self-proclaimed tech nerds! TED has long been known for demos that set everyone in the theatre a-buzz. Here's a look back at some memorable tech demos from TED and TEDGlobals past, to get you excited for those coming at TED2015.
Hugh Herr: The new bionics that let us run, climb and dance
On stage at: TED2014
Hugh Herr's ...
Three sessions of memorable TED Talks covering life, death and the future of humanity made the penultimate day of TED2018 a remarkable space for tech breakthroughs and dispatches from the edges of culture.
Here are some of the themes we heard echoing through the opening day, as well as some highlights from around the conference venue in Vanco...
A persistent sight in David Sengeh's childhood, growing up in Sierra Leone: amputees. Losing a limb was an all-too-common fact in the civil-war-torn region. But the aftermath was almost worse, Sengeh saw, as he watched family members and friends struggle with ill-fitting, uncomfortable prosthetics that hurt too much to wear.
Here, the 201...
The TED community is brimming with new projects and updates. Below, a few highlights.
Stacey Abrams responds to the US State of the Union. Politician Stacey Abrams spoke from Atlanta on behalf of the Democratic party following the State of the Union address. In her speech, she focused on the fight against bigotry, bipartisanship in a tur...
TED2014 is our 30th-anniversary conference, and the speaker lineup is -- in a word -- thrilling. Speakers will touch on topics ranging from technology, entertainment, design and education to climate change, architecture, music, physics, parenting, typography, fireflies and the Golden Gate Bridge. Randall Munroe of xkcd will talk about his passio...
The number is 110: One hundred and ten past and new TED speakers are part of our newest conference, TEDSummit, happening in Banff, Canada, 26–30 June 2016.
And you are invited to join us!
Some of the most popular TED speakers of all time, including Dan Pink, David Gallo, Esther Perel, Kelly and Jane McGonigal, Pico Iyer and dozens more...
Please enjoy your roundup of TED-related news:
Prosthetics that feel more natural. A study in Science Robotics lays out a surgical technique developed by Shriya Srinivasan, Hugh Herr and others that may help prosthetics feel more like natural limbs. During an amputation, the muscle pairs that allow our brains to sense how much force is ap...
About this event: In the spirit of Ideas worth spreading, TEDxIITKanpur organized TedxIITKanpurLive on 18th March, 2014 at Outreach Auditorium in IITK campus, keeping in line with the institute’s stated policy of supporting creative innovation and dynamic ideas. The event was live webcast of TED2014, Vancouver, Canada: The Next Chapter on 30th anniversary of TED....
Event details: Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India · April 7, 2014
Adrianne Haslet-Davis performs the rumba at the end of Hugh Herr’s talk, “The new bionics that let us run, climb, dance.” Normally, this would not be a big deal for a professional ballroom dance teacher. But Haslet-Davis lost her left foot in the Boston Marathon bombing in April 2013. This rumba was her first public performance since the att...
More than 100 speakers -- activists, scientists, adventurers, change-makers and more -- took the stage to give the talk of their lives this week in Vancouver at TED2018. One blog post could never hope to hold all of the extraordinary wisdom they shared. Here’s a (shamelessly inexhaustive) list of the themes and highlights we heard throughout the...