Wednesday, April 02, 2014

One of the Most Moving TED Talks Ever - Hugh Herr and Adrianne Haslet-Davis


I am so proud to be a citizen of the Boston-Cambridge metropolitan area.  As we approach the 1st anniversary of the Boston Marathon bombings, I want to share a story that is so inspiring that I guarantee that it will move you to tears and make you want to jump up and dance.  I feel particularly personally invested in this breakthrough because I have been a Boston Marathon volunteer for the past fifteen years.  An additional personal connection is the fact that I have lunch most Wednesdays at the Media Lab with scientists and inventors who are working on the kinds of projects you will see and hear in this TED Talk.

Across the street from my office in Kendall Square is the iconic MIT Media Lab, home to so many innovations that have brought the future into the present.  At a recent TED Talk in Vancouver, British Columbia, one of the Media Lab's leading innovators shared stories of remarkable breakthroughs in robotic prosthetics..



"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."

I invite you to watch this amazing video of Hugh Herr's recent talk and Adrianne Haslet-Davis' return to the stage.

Ted Talks - Hugh Herr: The New Bionics






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