How we'll become cyborgs and extend human potential | Hugh Herr 

2018: "Look at how these prosthetics move! It's so realistic!" 2034: "And this button activates the plasma cannon..."

If this guy came to me and told me he's a time traveller i'd believe him. Just look at his suit. It's awesome.

I'm a 28 female suffering from severe physical disability, which is CIDP. It's absolutely impossible for me to lead a life without assistance, and my QOL is extremely low. I want to be freed from these distresses so I want death with dignity. However if I can get BiOM, I want live more. I want to walk, run and take my lovely dog out for a walk. So I want this soooooooooooo much.

Leonardo Da Vinci would probably be saying "About fkn time" at this

" Humanity will end disability in this 21th century " wow that gives me chill ! I will try to be part of that process, it would be so great to help that many people 😃

Wow, I thought this would be a dreamer bullshitting about the future, but he is talking about the real, the present!

we'll hear a lot about this guy in 20 years or so

Wow this cyber foot is freaking amazing, I wasn't even expecting the brain connection part, I hope this get implemented all around the world very soon. Cyber Hands, fingers, legs, ... So many people need this

"There is no truth in flesh, only betrayal." "There is no strength in flesh, only weakness." "There is no constancy in flesh, only decay." "There is no certainty in flesh but death." - Credo Omnissiah

If i get to fly in real life before i die i definitely will die happy.

Cyberpunk 2077

WINGS !! I WANT THEM !! (dies on first try of flying...)

I am so hopeful for those with disabilities and for those invested in longevity after watching this talk!!! Congratulations on your success !! Thank you for making the world a better place !!!

I really wonder where humanity will be in 50 years

The future I dreamed as a kid is becoming soooooooooo much closer to reality

"We can rebuild him. We have the technology. We can make him better, than he was. Better, stronger, faster."

“Resistance is futile”...sorry. I couldn’t help myself.

Hey I remember this guy from when he talked about advanced prosthetics. I'm looking forward to seeing his progress over the last few years

I lost my leg to cancer and would love the same legs he has

We're living in the earliest era of the future

He has bionic limb. He climbs wall. Genji confirmed.

This guy, if his first ted talk wasn't already the best one, this one will take the top place. Epic. What a time to be living in.

I’m an engineering student and I’m literally crying watching this, that’s the future I’m looking for

I can't wait for this stuff to be an option for everybody. i have a birth defect that's causing my femur to widdle away at the inside on my knee and ankle joints. It also alters my gait and posture at times leading to significant back pain. I am in chronic pain and my only options currently are prescription pain killers (which i despise) or a 50/50 surgery that could increase the pain more radically over time. On top of all that arthritis runs in my family. I'd gladly amputate to get cyborg limbs at this point.

That research is a HUGE step forward in Bionics and Biomechatronics. We indeed are in the 21st century. Cyber Physical systems, augmented reality, Gene engineering (CRISPR) and Bionics are not words on some syfy media anymore, they are very real. In the context of Biomechatronics, that literaly means that severed parts could with enough investment in research, be replaced by robotics limbs ... stronger, faster, more precise... without the need to control it like a joystick. They just are intrinsically part of you main operational system.

Imagine showing this to someone just 50 years ago .... makes you think what in store for the next 50

I loved the talk but did he have to dress like a Bond villain? ^^

THIS RIGHT HERE is a CROWING ACHIEVEMENT of human ingenuity and medicine. Well done! This is what we can do if we decide that we can be more and give more to create a BETTER human experience. So beyond proud of these wonderful men and women of Project Cyborg to help make peoples' lives better!

This overwhelmed me emotionally a little at the end. People are walking again, hearing again, seeing again. The future is bright! ♥

I'm a cybernetic organism. Living tissue over a metal endoskeleton.

From the moment I understood the weakness of my flesh, it disgusted me. I craved the strength and certainty of steel. I aspired to the purity of the blessed machine. Your kind cling to your flesh as if it will not decay and fail you. One day the crude biomass you call a temple will wither and you will beg my kind to save you. But I am already saved. For the Machine is Immortal.

Kudos! to Professor Herr for his work with bionics and his courage in recovering from his mountain-climbing accident. Needless to say, many people will be supplied with prosthetic limbs because of bionics.

Sarif was right about one thing. It's in our nature to want to rise above our limits. Think about it. We were cold, so we harnessed fire. We were weak, so we invented tools. Every time we met an obstacle, we used creativity and ingenuity to overcome it. The cycle is inevitable. In the past, we've had to compensate for weaknesses, finding quick solutions that only benefit a few. But what if we never need to feel weak or morally conflicted again? What if the path Sarif wants us to take enables us to hold on to higher values with more stability? One thing is obvious. For the first time in history, we have a chance to steal fire from the gods. To turn away from it now - to stop pursing a future in which technology and biology combine, leading to the promise of a Singularity - would mean to deny the very essence of who we are. No doubt the road to get there will be bumpy, hurting some people along the way. But won't achieving the dream be worth it? We can become the gods we've always been striving to be. We might as well get good at it. - Deus Ex Human Revolution

*From the moment I understood the weakness of my flesh, it disgusted me. I craved the strength and certainty of steel. I aspired to the purity of the blessed machine. Your kind cling to your flesh as if it will not decay and fail you. One day the crude biomass that you call a temple will wither and you'll beg my kind to save you. But I am already saved. For the machine is immortal. Even in death i serve the Omnissiah*

Can I get one of these, my feet are slowly paralyzing. And it is killing me inside, no one wants two floppy things at the end of their legs. And that is what I have.

Of all the TED talks I've seen, this is probably the most amazing. Humanity... you have it baby

Those damn synths...

I am concerned about our humanity. I have the feeling that we can't survive without this technology, but at the same time I have the feeling it destroys something about being human. So interesting to think about it.

It is really sad how many people are against this, don't use your religion to shame others for wanting a normal life. Some people are saying "I would never let them make me half robot" this is to help people that have lost the use of their limbs, you can't imagine what that is like.

My right foot is slowly dying and I will loose it in a couple of years. Seeing this, I am less scared.

I hope Im not dead by then

Lieutenant Dan, you got new legs.

Pushing the limits, Rewriting the fate, Achieving the impossible. Congratulations whole team who involved

13:22 listen to what he's saying here. A guy standing behind the first computer said that one day computers will fit the palm of your hand and people will talk over long distances with small devices. What he's saying is really our future.

Theres a problem with cybernetics and it needs military grade firewall You dont want your body to be controlled by someone thats not you the results of that can be fatal by a single input

Hi, I'am an MIT professor, I created a portable device that when connected to your ear canal produces a sound that will make prosthesis obsolete. Once activated it sounds something like: "FREE CLIMBING IS A BAD IDEA! HOW MANY MIT PROFESSORS SHOULD IT TAKE TO UNDERSTAND THIS?!"

He is Great... He didn't cry or grieve for the loss of legs. If we could improve the tech that gives him his legs we can surely make cyborgs

The true Cyberpunk promo

To end disability, yes To augment, no. We have to keep tight controls on this technology or we will lose what it is to be human. It is not only our strengths that make us who we are, but also our frailties.

I completely expected the rock climber to just fall and go “ ahhh”

Officially not climbing a mountain

i just watched his ted talk from 2014, ITS AMAZING HOW FAR HE HAS COME HOLY CRAP.

If this comes to pass, and I think it's likely, how affordable will it be? Who'll be in charge of deciding whether it's available to the average person? Who'll own the technology that's put inside humans? We like to think we'll be super-beings tomorrow. I think the reality will be a lot less shiny.

Wow ted i was amputated a year ago and ive lost everything with this amputation .i lost my job my wife and im stuck between 4 walls all day long i used to be very active but now i am the opposite.i cant go outside and play with my 10 year old daughter .i feel like a burden to everyone around me i was honestly ready to give up and now you have given me some hope .thanks a million .i actuaally would love to talk with you

Ironically, I am writing a sci-fi novel about this very subject “Remotely Controlled “

Transhumanism for the win!! I absolutely loved this one... this was great.

Absolutely incredible. The advances in technology in my young life are astounding.

Am asking on the half of TED why this can be applied, in a reverse oder to make visuals inside a blind person, I asked this question in my college days before 10 years back to my optics professor. We can’t imagine a 10 minutes in complete darkness. So please make a great move in this technology.These concepts should be stands for humankind not only for making money..

Me looks at my leg: Mom where you kept the saw

look like a cyberpunk 2077

This video made me realize how much bionics and ai can be applied now and how far it can go in the future. This also made me realize how smart our brain is and how well it can interpret what seems to be impossible signals. Overall this video was very enlightening.

This Ted talk is especially relevant as Detroit: Become Human just came out

Ah yes cyberpunk becoming real.

I don't see any controversial aspect in this. It's just a way to improve the quality of life of disabled people.

Now we will be a space faring race. Each planet we inhabit will have humans with different kind of human cyborg adaptations required to live on that planet. MARS, HERE WE COME

This is really amazing and important work, but I get concerned when people attribute disability to only physical ones. I'm referring specifically to his comment that we'll "erase disability in the 21st century". I mean, I hope he's right, but if so, there is a lot of catch-up needed for other fields of research into other types of disabilities. Unless he's truly speaking holistically, his comment erases those that suffer from emotional, mental, and covert physical disabilities, and we are so much further behind in those fields than we are with overt physical disabilities. There are so many people who don't even acknowledge that there are any disabilities beyond overt ones, and I fear that if we don't catch up with the amazing technology that is happening for those with overt disabilities, then those with covert ones will be left behind, or erased from the disability label altogether.

There's a documentary called "Augmented" available on PBS streaming that goes into the whole story behind the research and Herr's experiences. I wish there was more about how people can fly, but it's really good.

Here we go becoming the Borg,

STANDING HERE...

His voice sounds like it is from a cyborg.

The problem with these talks, and with this science in general, is that there are basic assumptions still not questioned. Primarily, an assumption that biology and neurology follows the same digital, polychotomous, that our machines do. But because we impart our intuition upon the world, instead of being able to do the opposite. we tend to believe that our nervous system is somehow matchable with digital action. The verge is this: We need to invent analog computers, and have a better understanding of physics without the constrains of digitization, THEN we will make that connection we wish for. Until then, we will have this limit of computer/brain comparability. How do we connect the digital to the analog? The future will not be becoming computers, but to reinvent computers to become analog, and use that new way of computing and electronics in symbiosis with our hijacking of biology, genetics.

You will be upgraded!

It feels weird watching this video shortly after I've finished playing Deus Ex: Human Revolution

Honestly cant wait. Cybernetics will improve the human life a lot.

I have put myself through stem cell studies before. I would gladly offer my body up for this. Just a chance to walk normally again.

Every time I get a chance to watch a new Hugh Herr video, I get goosebumps and my heart takes off a little bit. This is the future I want. #transhumanism

Allways best Ted.💒💒

Considering we don't seem to be too keen on stopping the world from going to crap, human augmentation may be the only way some of us and the future generations survive. I'm all for it. Been ready and willing to Robocop myself since I was 5.

#TED Can this be done for hand fingers? I have lost half of my finger and rest of them are demaged

This is how we evolve ,with people like this

2070: Me i like to order a pair of advanced enhanched legs and arms and a heart and bionic eyeball with x ray and temp sensor and an AI implanted to my brain Make it snappy

If you wanna know where and how fast technology is headed I suggest researching Ray Kurzweil 😌

I'm proud of us as a race and people that we accomplished such big things like this but im also disappointed in the sense that only in the 1960s - 70s people have only started talking about this. if humanity wouldn't have been consumed by ego and corruption so much at this point in time we could've been a mega civilizations spanning across the solar system and beyond. it just saddens me

I am already feeling like RoboCop

I'm not physically disabled and I have complete body parts... I'm totally normal from head to toe. But I want to improve my whole physical being. I want a stronger and a more resilient body. I wanna feel brand new. To be reborn again in a new body. I LONG FOR THAT FEELING SO MUCH...

Great speaker, no umm's or ahh's :) Wonderful team, fascinating subject.

I have an uncle who’s missing 2 legs due to an ied, and he struggles to even get up with his prosthetics, much less do little unconscious things, like how the guy in the video walks from side to side out of nervousness, that’s insane to me. The future truly is now

I'm getting extreme super villain vibes, like a back story to a new marvel movie.

Went from leg prosthetics to literally flying

I'd like to see cyborgs in the future, I mean think about how long could you live with all of this implemented to our bodies.

One day mankind will live in the world like in the movie Ghost in the Shell or Dues Ex

Hugh Herr was one of the best young climbers in the country in 1982. Amazing where life has brought him

Humanoids are robots with human-like bodies. They’re full robot. Cyborgs are humans with robotic portions of their bodies or robots with human portions of their bodies. Humans are humans. They’re full human. So, anyone with a cellphone in their hand all the time is not a human.

I love Hugh Herr

Truly extraordinary accomplishments in technology. I used to study prosthetic technology back in my junior year in high school, even creating designs for a powerpoint presentation. This has reignited my interest, and makes me want to go to college to help aid in this technology. Absolutely amazing accomplishments!

We can rebuild him, we have the technology

How is the flesh to leg interface? I know that traditional prosthetics tend to blister where tissue and synthetic materials meet. Superb concepts; these devices will improve quality of life for those that require them! Great post!!

future seems sort of creepy

Team Cyborg: "We can rebuild him. We have the technology." Sorry, I had to....

Can't watch this right now, but I am all in for full cyborg. Wouldn't have left the comment but for having a thought that could have been misinterpreted.