Extreme Bionics: The Future of Human Ability - sxsw2018
*This is part of a series of reflective posts consisting of learnings from the various talks I attended at SXSW 2018.
Speakers:
Hugh HerrScientist at the Center For Extreme Bionics/MIT Media LabAimee MullinsActress, model, athlete, and olympian who set world records at the paralympics in 1996.Hans Georg NaedarChairman of Ottobock, a German bionics company which has been manufacturing artificiallimbs and orthopedic devices since World War 2.
Prosthetics- How Far We’ve Come…
Hugh Herr lost both his legs to frostbite in 1982. Less than a year later, he was rock climbing again thanks to the prosthetic legs that he designed himself.
I always thought that prosthetic limbs were lesser than human limbs in terms of strength, endurance and agility, partly because they weren’t directly connected to the brains and so, were harder to control and move. (to be honest, I wasn’t exactly sure of the biology behind it, and probably still am not..)But, the big revelation for me in this talk was that bionics is so advanced now that when a patient with an artificial leg moves their (artificial) ankle, they feel it in the brain….
Mind. Blown.
Legs Amputated Below the Knee? So What? Life’s still normal..No, Better than Normal
So is the case for Aimee Mullins, truly Wonder Woman in real life.
She was born with a medical condition that required her to have both her legs amputated below the knee. But that didn’t stop her. She is a prolific actress (if you’ve seen Stranger Things, you’ll recognize her), model, and athlete.
Fun fact- because she uses prosthetic legs, she changes them whenever she models. She showed us a picture of herself where she had artificial legs which looked just like regular human legs, and they were gorgeous, so much that her mother remarked ‘you would never have legs like those if they were your biological legs’..to which she responded,
“DNA didn’t show up for me down there so why should I show up for it?”
A Brief History, the Road Ahead
First you had walking sticks, then came crutches, then walking frames, then wheelchairs and then prosthetic devices. But we had accomplished all of these centuries ago. The next big frontier is bionics.
‘I refuse to use the word disability. Disability denotes incompetence. Inability. Some people have different bodies.’
Herr refers to prosthetics as ‘neurological embodiments’. Neurological, because they are indeed connected to the brain. Embodiment because they are as essential a part of his body as any other.You think amputees being able to run just like the rest of us is cool? Forget that, they’ll be able to run better, says Hugh Herr.
‘In 10-15 years, paralympics will be better than Olympics. Better records. Run times. Jumps. All of that. Because olympics is just a celebration of normal human boring bodies.’
If you’re designing a limb that can communicate with the brain just like ‘normal’ human limbs do, it means that the brain adapts to new muscles which are essentially attached to the body. It also means that if the limb is being designed externally, then why not make it better, stronger, faster than the limbs we’re born with?This is what people like MIT scientist Herr are working on, and it is beyond exciting.According to Herr, we could even have wings!The idea is that if the brain can communicate with and adapt to new muscles being attached to the body, then why not attach new muscles like ones we have never had before...would the brain be able to adapt? It is still a question, of course. But one whose answer I’m dying to find out.Overall, this talk was incredibly informative and inspirational. It reminded me of the time I had watched The Amazing Spider Man as a geeky teenager. Remember Dr Connors?
The scientist who wanted to create ‘a world without weakness’. I left with the same sense of awe and fascination which I had experienced when I watched those scenes in the movie. I guess I wanted to become the geeky kid on the right who solved the Decay Rate Algorithm for Dr Connors.To end, here’s one of the many inspiring and powerful quotes by Hugh Herr from the talk:
‘Can we augment humans and give them superpowers’
This is the stuff which makes me excited about the future of human ability. About being human. About being alive in this world and in this day.
Link to Hugh Herr’s TED talk.
Link to Aimee Mullins’ TED talk.
If you liked reading this post, do comment below. This will encourage me to write more 🙂
Speakers: 
Algorithm- enabled systems“ .... we are asking people to trust machines to do things that we have done ourselves.”
It’s helpful to view technology use from the perspective of users’ willingness to be controlled by these ‘algorithmic aversions’ (especially in the context of AI- powered applications). On one end of the spectrum, you have people who want to be able to control each and every aspect of the task that they are trying to accomplish. On the other end are people who are more willing to let themselves be controlled by technology so long as they are setting the intent.(Take, for example, the task of booking a vacation- would you be comfortable telling an AI-powered app that you want to go to Bali and Indonesia and have a budget of $3000 and let it take care of all bookings for you or would you want to control the various aspects of the booking?)
^This is actually how humans form trust with other humans, as shown by various research studies in the social sciences. The idea here is that this process of trust formation between humans is what we as designers should use to get humans to establish trust with our products. First, there is a connection with the product- the downloading and signing up on an app, let's say.Then there is caution- the user browses through, maybe uses it for a bit, maybe doesn't give too much information too soon, maybe doesn't add all his/her friends too soon....or whatever.Then, the user discovers that the app does consistently add value whenever they use it.Next, they take the courage to pay for that subscription, or add all their friends, or put it on their home- screen or make it their go-to app for a particular task that was previously done some other way. Then you have a committed user- that's when you know you've succeeded as a designer.
“Design so that people choose it and use it.”