Building the Body Better: John Hockenberry and Hugh Herr at the MIT Museum

“How do we marry technology to humanity?” asked John Hockenberry, journalist, Distinguished Fellow at MIT Media Lab, and now morning show host at WNYC. Last week, he gave a talk at the MIT Museum with Hugh Herr, director of Media Lab’s Biomechatronics Group.

Hockenberry began by explaining the shifting attitudes toward medical technology since the 1976 car accident that left him in a wheelchair:

johnhockenberry.jpgAt that time, being a parapalygic was an extraodinarily fringe activity in mainstream America and was percieved to be at first something that was horrific, secondly something staggeringly poigniant around the 1980s, and as we got toward the end of the 90s, it became something, perhaps not mainstream, but at least suggesting that what i had been doing in this wheelchair for previous thirty years was not… just worthy of memoirs and stories of overcoming obstacles. It was in fact central to the issue: how do we marry technology to humanity in a way that is organic to the body, appropriate to the spirit, and sustainable to the community?

It became clear that few insitutitions or people had spent any time thinking about this at all and it was also clear … that people with disabilities had spent all their lives thinking prescicely about how to make pieces of technology — often pieces of junk that had been handed to them by doctors — into something that could be used on a sustainable human scale that would be useful to them and allow them to participate in the community

Herr.jpg Herr raised the point that what at first seemed to be an extraordinary disadvantage, actually provided opportunities he never otherwise would conceive of, “I could be as tall as I like, not just 5′10… and, gee, I could put materials here with density less than the human body.” He could even work on his leg to improve his rock-climbing skills.

Runners with prosthetic blade “cheetah legs” are known for their high speeds, an advantage of more than 30 percent. South Africa’s Oscar Pistorius is even ineligible to compete in the Beijing Olympics. (Update 4/18/08: Please read the comments to see an explanation why this “advantage” is negligible. Here is a good case for why he should be allowed to run.) Will we need an Extra-Special Olympics for those among us with super-human skills? Because of the Iraq war, there are a lot more people now qualified for such an event. It’s even a status symbol among patients at Walter Reed.

There’s a spike in biomechatronics innovation and funding after every war. DARPA and the Department of Veterans Affairs are behind most current projects. Now, no one wants a Sleeper Cylon leg — but that’s why open source design labs like FabLab are also important to the design process.

People already see artificial limbs as upgrades. So why not have a third arm? I have heard that DARPA research has a cap on biomedical devices that go beyond human ability. In the meantime, a major rule of design is forget those beige attempts at realistic “flesh.” As Herr explained, “Mannequins –creepy. Robots –cool.”

You can watch the lecture on the website (although, it seems to be down at the moment. For now, here is a video of a forum with Hockenberry, Herr and Segway’s Dean Kamen. You can also watch Hockenberry’s 2005 appearance on the Daily Show.) And if you are anywhere near Cambridge on April 29, you don’t want to miss the next Soap box event featuring Sherry Turkle, author of the The Second Self, one of the first and most influential books on the user’s experience in the digital world, and Cynthia Breazeal, MIT’s leading researcher in humanoid robotics. These “salon-style” conversations with scientists are participatory and fun. After the lecture, the audience separates into small groups and brainstorms question on tablet pcs.

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Posted by Joanne on Apr. 16, 2008 Tagged: , , , , , , , , , ,

5 Responses to “Building the Body Better: John Hockenberry and Hugh Herr at the MIT Museum”

  1. Posted by: John M. - 04/17/2008

    Prosthetics is one thing, but when it comes to extra appendages, hardware implants or things like wings and tails, I’ve always suspected that most people, specifically those inclined to do something like this, would hold out for v. 2.0.

    What if the system was buggy or there were side effects, rejection or kinesthetic problems? Think ‘plastic-surgery disaster’ cubed.

    There would also be real-life complications. Think tattoos are a problem for that job interview? How are you going to hide that tail?

    It will take a few adventurous types to adopt the technology and successfully adapt to the changes such procedures and results would bring about before any kind of market for this would emerge.

    Of course, advances in prosthetics for those in need and the experience gained in the process would likely, as you intimated, be useful in the pursuit of extreme recreational body modification.

  2. Posted by: Joanne McNeil - 04/17/2008

    Adventurous, or maybe even desperate — what if an additional finger on each hand doubled one’s typing speed? You might see companies willing to pay for the procedure and the resulting debate would be framed like the arguments now for and against paid organ donation

  3. Posted by: John M. - 04/17/2008

    Hmm, industrial/occupational mods… You would probably see this in cases where it was cheaper than buying a robot. Or, individuals might pay for it to get that extra edge for their job hunt.

  4. Posted by: Henke Pistorius - 04/18/2008

    The prosthesis worn by Oscar Pistorius DO NOT supply or give Oscar, or anyone wearing them a 30% advantage. The advantages, will be negledgible eg. wind resistance. Compared with the enormous disadvantages the man has to overcome, NOT worth mentioning.
    Oscar broke the 100 & 200 meter World Records with HOME MADE PROSTHESIS, with no technological research. Those first blades often broke in full flight-Oscar looked more like a moto-x rider who refuses to wear protective gear. Oscar lost a lot of skin during those first months, but non of his entusiasm and vision.
    Give the man credit and allow him the competition he deserves.
    (Oscar has NEVER run against another T43-bilateral amputee-like himself. There is NO ONE. It is very ,very difficult to walk, let alone, run.)
    I know u can Oscar - VASBYT!!
    Dad.

  5. Posted by: Joanne McNeil - 04/18/2008

    Thank you for your comment. I will update this post to reflect this point

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