TEDxMidAtlantic
Henry Evans and Chad Jenkins: Meet the robots for humanity
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Paralyzed by a stroke, Henry Evans uses a telepresence robot to take the stage and show how new robotics, tweaked and personalized by a group called Robots for Humanity, help him live his life to the full. He shows off a nimble little quadrotor drone, created by a team led by Chad Jenkins, that gives him the ability to once again stroll a garden, visit a campus or give a TEDx Talk.
Henry Evans - Robotics activist
In 2003, Henry Evans became quadriplegic and mute after a stroke-like attack. Now, working with Robots for Humanity, he's a pioneer in adaptive robotic tech to help him, and other disabled people like him, navigate the world. Full bio
In 2003, Henry Evans became quadriplegic and mute after a stroke-like attack. Now, working with Robots for Humanity, he's a pioneer in adaptive robotic tech to help him, and other disabled people like him, navigate the world. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
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Sarge Salman: All the way from
Los Altos Hills, California,
Los Altos Hills, California,
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Mr. Henry Evans.
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(Applause)
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Henry Evans: Hello.
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My name is Henry Evans,
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and until August 29, 2002,
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I was living my version of the American dream.
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I grew up in a typical American town near St. Louis.
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My dad was a lawyer.
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My mom was a homemaker.
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My six siblings and I were good kids,
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but caused our fair share of trouble.
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After high school, I left home to study
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and learn more about the world.
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I went to Notre Dame University
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and graduated with degrees
in accounting and German,
in accounting and German,
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including spending a year of study in Austria.
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Later on, I earned an MBA at Stanford.
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I married my high school sweetheart, Jane.
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I am lucky to have her.
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Together, we raised four wonderful children.
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I worked and studied hard
to move up the career ladder,
to move up the career ladder,
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eventually becoming a chief financial officer
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in Silicon Valley, a job I really enjoyed.
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My family and I bought our first and only home
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on December 13, 2001,
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a fixer-upper in a beautiful spot
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of Los Altos Hills, California,
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from where I am speaking to you now.
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We were looking forward to rebuilding it,
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but eight months after we moved in,
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I suffered a stroke-like attack
caused by a birth defect.
caused by a birth defect.
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Overnight, I became a mute quadriplegic
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at the ripe old age of 40.
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It took me several years,
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but with the help of an incredibly supportive family,
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I finally decided life was still worth living.
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I became fascinated with using technology
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to help the severely disabled.
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Head tracking devices sold commercially
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by the company Madentec
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convert my tiny head movements
into cursor movements,
into cursor movements,
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and enable my use of a regular computer.
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I can surf the web, exchange email with people,
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and routinely destroy my friend Steve Cousins
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in online word games.
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This technology allows me to remain engaged,
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mentally active,
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and feel like I am a part of the world.
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One day, I was lying in bed watching CNN,
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when I was amazed by Professor Charlie Kemp
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of the Healthcare Robotics Lab at Georgia Tech
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demonstrating a PR2 robot.
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I emailed Charlie and
Steve Cousins of Willow Garage,
Steve Cousins of Willow Garage,
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and we formed the Robots for Humanity project.
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For about two years, Robots for Humanity
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developed ways for me to use the PR2
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as my body surrogate.
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I shaved myself for the first time in 10 years.
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From my home in California,
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I shaved Charlie in Atlanta. (Laughter)
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I handed out Halloween candy.
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I opened my refrigerator on my own.
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I began doing tasks around the house.
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I saw new and previously unthinkable possibilities
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to live and contribute,
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both for myself and others in my circumstance.
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All of us have disabilities in one form or another.
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For example, if either of us
wants to go 60 miles an hour,
wants to go 60 miles an hour,
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both of us will need an assistive device called a car.
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Your disability doesn't make you
any less of a person,
any less of a person,
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and neither does mine.
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By the way, check out my sweet ride. (Laughter)
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Since birth, we have both suffered from the inability
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to fly on our own.
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Last year, Kaijen Hsiao of Willow Garage
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connected with me Chad Jenkins.
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Chad showed me how easy it is
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to purchase and fly aerial drones.
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It was then I realized that I could also use
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an aerial drone to expand the worlds
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of bedridden people through flight,
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giving a sense of movement and control
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that is incredible.
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Using a mouse cursor I control with my head,
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these web interfaces allow me
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to see video from the robot
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and send control commands
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by pressing buttons in a web browser.
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With a little practice, I became
good enough with this interface
good enough with this interface
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to drive around my home on my own.
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I could look around our garden
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and see the grapes we are growing.
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I inspected the solar panels on our roof. (Laughter)
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One of my challenges as a pilot is to land the drone
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on our basketball hoop.
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I went even further by seeing if I could use
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a head-mounted display, the Oculus Rift,
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as modified by Fighting Walrus,
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to have an immersive experience
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controlling the drone.
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With Chad's group at Brown,
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I regularly fly drones around his lab
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several times a week,
from my home 3,000 miles away.
from my home 3,000 miles away.
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All work and no fun makes for a dull quadriplegic,
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so we also find time to play friendly games
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of robot soccer. (Laughter)
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I never thought I would be able to casually
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move around a campus like Brown on my own.
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I just wish I could afford the tuition. (Laughter)
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Chad Jenkins: Henry, all joking aside,
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I bet all of these people here
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would love to see you fly this drone
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from your bed in California 3,000 miles away.
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(Applause)
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Okay, Henry, have you been to D.C. lately?
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(Laughter)
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Are you excited to be at TEDxMidAtlantic?
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(Laughter) (Applause)
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Can you show us how excited you are?
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(Laughter)
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All right, big finish.
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Can you show us how good of a pilot you are?
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(Applause)
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All right, we still have a little ways to go with that,
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but I think it shows the promise.
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What makes Henry's story amazing
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is it's about understanding Henry's needs,
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understanding what people in Henry's situation
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need from technology,
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and then also understanding
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what advanced technology can provide,
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and then bringing those two things together
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for use in a wise and responsible way.
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What we're trying to do is democratize robotics,
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so that anybody can be a part of this.
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We're providing affordable,
off-the-shelf robot platforms
off-the-shelf robot platforms
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such as the A.R. drone, 300 dollars,
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the Suitable Technologies beam,
only 17,000 dollars,
only 17,000 dollars,
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along with open-source robotics software
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so that you can be a part of what we're trying to do.
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And our hope is that, by providing these tools,
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that you'll be able to think of better ways
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to provide movement for the disabled,
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to provide care for our aging population,
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to help better educate our children,
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to think about what the new types
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of middle class jobs could be for the future,
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to both monitor and protect our environment,
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and to explore the universe.
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Back to you, Henry.
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HE: Thank you, Chad.
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With this drone setup, we show the potential
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for bedridden people to once again be able
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to explore the outside world,
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and robotics will eventually provide
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a level playing field
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where one is only limited by their mental acuity
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and imagination,
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where the disabled are able to perform
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the same activities as everyone else,
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and perhaps better,
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and technology will even allow us to provide
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an outlet for many people who are presently
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considered vegetables.
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One hundred years ago,
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I would have been treated like a vegetable.
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Actually, that's not true.
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I would have died.
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It is up to us, all of us, to decide how
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robotics will be used, for good or for evil,
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for simply replacing people
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or for making people better,
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for allowing us to do and enjoy more.
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Our goal for robotics is to
unlock everyone's mental power
unlock everyone's mental power
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by making the world more physically accessible
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to people such as myself and others like me
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around the globe.
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With the help of people like you,
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we can make this dream a reality.
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Thank you.
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(Applause)
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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Henry Evans - Robotics activistIn 2003, Henry Evans became quadriplegic and mute after a stroke-like attack. Now, working with Robots for Humanity, he's a pioneer in adaptive robotic tech to help him, and other disabled people like him, navigate the world.
Why you should listen
At age 40, Henry Evans was left mute and quadriplegic after a stroke-like attack caused by a hidden birth defect. Years of therapy helped him learn to move his head and use a finger -- which allows him to use a head-tracking device to communicate with a computer using experimental interfaces.
Now, Evans is a frequent and enthusiastic collaborator with robotics teams who are developing tools to help the severely disabled navigate their lives. He collaborates with Georgia Tech professor Charlie Kemp on using the Willow Garage PR2 robot as a surrogate, as well as Chad Jenkins' RLAB at Brown on quadrotors for expanding range of motion.
As the Willow Garage blog post says: "Every day, people take for granted the simple act of scratching an itch. In Henry's case, 2-3 times every hour of every day he gets an itch he can't scratch. With the aid of a PR2, Henry was able to scratch an itch for himself for the first time in 10 years."
Henry Evans | Speaker | TED.com