I'm an MIT professor, but I do not design buildings or computer systems. Rather, I build body parts, bionic legs that augment human walking and running.
Profesor sam na MIT-u, ali ne konstruišem zgrade niti kompjuterske sisteme. Pravim delove tela, bioničke noge koje pomažu ljudima da hodaju i trče.
In 1982, I was in a mountain-climbing accident, and both of my legs had to be amputated due to tissue damage from frostbite. Here, you can see my legs: 24 sensors, six microprocessors and muscle-tendon-like actuators. I'm basically a bunch of nuts and bolts from the knee down. But with this advanced bionic technology, I can skip, dance and run.
Godine 1982, imao sam nesreću na planinarenju i morali su da mi amputiraju obe noge zbog promrzlina koje su oštetile tkivo. Ovde možete videti moje noge: 24 senzora, šest mikroprocesora i izvršnih jedinica u obliku tetiva. U suštini sam napravljen od gomile šrafova od kolena nadole. Ali, sa ovom naprednom bioničkom tehnologijom mogu da skačem, plešem i trčim.
(Applause)
(Aplauz)
Thank you.
Hvala.
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(Aplauz)
I'm a bionic man, but I'm not yet a cyborg. When I think about moving my legs, neural signals from my central nervous system pass through my nerves and activate muscles within my residual limbs. Artificial electrodes sense these signals, and small computers in the bionic limb decode my nerve pulses into my intended movement patterns. Stated simply, when I think about moving, that command is communicated to the synthetic part of my body. However, those computers can't input information into my nervous system. When I touch and move my synthetic limbs, I do not experience normal touch and movement sensations. If I were a cyborg and could feel my legs via small computers inputting information into my nervous system, it would fundamentally change, I believe, my relationship to my synthetic body. Today, I can't feel my legs, and because of that, my legs are separate tools from my mind and my body. They're not part of me. I believe that if I were a cyborg and could feel my legs, they would become part of me, part of self.
Ja sam bionički čovek, ali nisam još uvek kiborg. Kada razmišljam o pomeranju nogu, nervni signali iz mog centralnog nervnog sistema prolaze mi kroz nerve i aktiviraju mi mišiće u ostacima udova. Veštačke elektrode opažaju te signale i mali kompjuteri u bioničkom udu dekodiraju moje nervne impulse u željene obrasce pokreta. Jednostavno rečeno, kada pomislim na kretanje, ta komanda se prenosi u sintetički deo mog tela. Međutim, ovi kompjuteri ne mogu da unesu informacije u moj nervni sistem. Kada dodirnem i pokrenem svoje sintetičke udove, ne osećam normalan dodir i pokrete. Kad bih bio kiborg i mogao da osetim noge pomoću malih kompjutera koji ubacuju informacije u moj nervni sistem, iz osnova bih, verujem, promenio odnos prema svom sintetičkom telu. Sada ne mogu da osetim noge i zbog toga su one odvojena pomagala od mog uma i tela. One nisu deo mene. Verujem da bi, kad bih bio kiborg i mogao da osetim noge, one postale deo mene.
At MIT, we're thinking about NeuroEmbodied Design. In this design process, the designer designs human flesh and bone, the biological body itself, along with synthetics to enhance the bidirectional communication between the nervous system and the built world. NeuroEmbodied Design is a methodology to create cyborg function. In this design process, designers contemplate a future in which technology no longer compromises separate, lifeless tools from our minds and our bodies, a future in which technology has been carefully integrated within our nature, a world in which what is biological and what is not, what is human and what is not, what is nature and what is not will be forever blurred. That future will provide humanity new bodies. NeuroEmbodied Design will extend our nervous systems into the synthetic world, and the synthetic world into us, fundamentally changing who we are. By designing the biological body to better communicate with the built design world, humanity will end disability in this 21st century and establish the scientific and technological basis for human augmentation, extending human capability beyond innate, physiological levels, cognitively, emotionally and physically.
Na MIT-u, razmišljamo o neurootelovljavanju. U ovom procesu kreator konstruiše ljudsko meso i kost, biološko telo, zajedno sa sintetikom da bi pojačao dvosmernu komunikaciju između nervnog sistema i konstruisanog sveta. Neurootelovljavanje je metodologija za kreiranje kiborškog funkcionisanja. U ovom procesu dizajniranja, konstruktori razmišljaju o budućnosti u kojoj tehnologija više neće sadržati delove koji su beživotni i odvojeni od našeg uma i tela, o budućnosti u kojoj je tehnologija brižljivo integrisana u našu prirodu, o svetu u kome će razlika između biološkog i nebiološkog, ljudskog i onog što nije ljudsko, prirodnog i neprirodnog biti zauvek zamagljena. Ta budućnost će doneti čovečanstvu nova tela. Pomoću neurootelovljavanja naši nervni sistemi će se proširiti na sintetički svet, a sintetički svet na naša tela, iz osnova nas menjajući. Kreiranjem biološkog tela tako da bolje komunicira sa veštački konstruisanim svetom, čovečanstvo će iskoreniti invaliditet u ovom 21. veku i uspostaviti naučne i tehnološke osnove za unapređivanje ljudi, tako što će proširiti ljudsku sposobnost izvan urođenih, fizioloških granica, u kognitivnom, emocionalnom i fizičkom smislu.
There are many ways in which to build new bodies across scale, from the biomolecular to the scale of tissues and organs. Today, I want to talk about one area of NeuroEmbodied Design, in which the body's tissues are manipulated and sculpted using surgical and regenerative processes. The current amputation paradigm hasn't changed fundamentally since the US Civil War and has grown obsolete in light of dramatic advancements in actuators, control systems and neural interfacing technologies. A major deficiency is the lack of dynamic muscle interactions for control and proprioception.
Ima mnogo načina za konstruisanje novih tela u raznim razmerama, od biomolekularnog nivoa do nivoa tkiva i organa. Danas bih želeo da govorim o jednoj oblasti neurootelovljavanja u kojoj se ljudska tkiva uređuju i oblikuju pomoću hirurških i regenerativnih procesa. Današnja paradigma amputacije nije se u osnovi promenila od Američkog građanskog rata i zastarela je u svetlu dramatičnih unapređenja izvršnih jedinica, sistema za upravljanje i tehnologije nervnog interfejsa. Veliki nedostatak je manjak dinamične mišićne interakcije u cilju kontrole i propriocepcije.
What is proprioception? When you flex your ankle, muscles in the front of your leg contract, simultaneously stretching muscles in the back of your leg. The opposite happens when you extend your ankle. Here, muscles in the back of your leg contract, stretching muscles in the front. When these muscles flex and extend, biological sensors within the muscle tendons send information through nerves to the brain. This is how we're able to feel where our feet are without seeing them with our eyes.
Šta je propriocepcija? Kada zgrčite članak, prednji nožni mišići vam se skupe, istovremeno istežući mišiće sa zadnje strane noge. Suprotno se dešava kada ispružate članak. Sada se mišići sa zadnje strane noge skupljaju, istežući pritom prednje mišiće. Kada se ovi mišići savijaju i opružaju, biološki senzori u tetivama šalju informaciju kroz nerve do mozga. Na taj način možemo da osetimo gde su nam stopala, a da ih pritom ne vidimo.
The current amputation paradigm breaks these dynamic muscle relationships, and in so doing eliminates normal proprioceptive sensations. Consequently, a standard artificial limb cannot feed back information into the nervous system about where the prosthesis is in space. The patient therefore cannot sense and feel the positions and movements of the prosthetic joint without seeing it with their eyes. My legs were amputated using this Civil War-era methodology. I can feel my feet, I can feel them right now as a phantom awareness. But when I try to move them, I cannot. It feels like they're stuck inside rigid ski boots.
Trenutna paradigma u amputaciji raskida ove dinamične veze među mišićima i time eliminiše normalne proprioceptivne osećaje. Stoga, standardni veštački ud ne može da pošalje u nervni sistem povratnu informaciju o tome gde se proteza nalazi u prostoru. Pacijent stoga ne može da oseti položaj i pokrete protetskog zgloba kad ga ne vidi. Moje noge su amputirane pomoću metodologije iz Građanskog rata. Mogu da osetim stopala, mogu da ih osetim sada kao fantomski osećaj. Ali, kad pokušam da ih pomerim, ne mogu. Imam osećaj kao da su zaglavljene u krutim skijaškim čizmama.
To solve these problems, at MIT, we invented the agonist-antagonist myoneural interface, or AMI, for short. The AMI is a method to connect nerves within the residuum to an external, bionic prosthesis. How is the AMI designed, and how does it work? The AMI comprises two muscles that are surgically connected, an agonist linked to an antagonist. When the agonist contracts upon electrical activation, it stretches the antagonist. This muscle dynamic interaction causes biological sensors within the muscle tendon to send information through the nerve to the central nervous system, relating information on the muscle tendon's length, speed and force. This is how muscle tendon proprioception works, and it's the primary way we, as humans, can feel and sense the positions, movements and forces on our limbs.
Da bismo rešili ove probleme, na MIT-u smo izmislili mioneuralni interfejs agonist-antagonist, ili, skraćeno, AMI. AMI je metod za povezivanje nerava iz reziduuma sa eksternom, bioničkom protezom. Kako je konstruisan AMI i na koji način radi? AMI sadrži dva mišića koji su povezani hirurškim putem; agonist povezan sa antagonistom. Kad se agonist zgrči usled električne aktivacije, on izdužuje antagonista. Usled ove mišićne dinamične interakcije, biološki senzori u mišićnoj tetivi šalju kroz nerve do centralnog nervnog sistema informaciju o dužini, brzini i sili tetive. Na taj način funkcioniše propriocepcija tetive i to je primarni način na koji mi, kao ljudi, možemo osetiti položaje, pokrete i sile u našim udovima.
When a limb is amputated, the surgeon connects these opposing muscles within the residuum to create an AMI. Now, multiple AMI constructs can be created for the control and sensation of multiple prosthetic joints. Artificial electrodes are then placed on each AMI muscle, and small computers within the bionic limb decode those signals to control powerful motors on the bionic limb. When the bionic limb moves, the AMI muscles move back and forth, sending signals through the nerve to the brain, enabling a person wearing the prosthesis to experience natural sensations of positions and movements of the prosthesis.
Kad je ud amputiran, hirurg povezuje ove naspramne mišiće u reziduumu da bi napravio AMI. Sada, mogu se napraviti višestruki AMI konstrukti za kontrolu i osećaj višestrukih protetskih zglobova. Zatim se veštačke elektrode stavljaju na svaki AMI mišić, i mali kompjuteri u bioničkom udu dekodiraju te signale kako bi kontrolisali snažne motore na bioničkom udu. Kad se bionički ud pokrene, AMI mišići se opruže i zgrče, šaljući pritom signale kroz nerve do mozga, omogućujući osobi koja nosi protezu da oseti prirodne osećaje položaja i pokreta proteze.
Can these tissue-design principles be used in an actual human being? A few years ago, my good friend Jim Ewing -- of 34 years -- reached out to me for help. Jim was in an a terrible climbing accident. He fell 50 feet in the Cayman Islands when his rope failed to catch him hitting the ground's surface. He suffered many, many injuries: punctured lungs and many broken bones. After his accident, he dreamed of returning to his chosen sport of mountain climbing, but how might this be possible?
Mogu li se ovi principi konstrukcije tkiva upotrebiti kod stvarnog ljudskog bića? Pre par godina, moj dobar prijatelj, tridesetčetvorogodišnji Džim Juing obratio mi se za pomoć. Džim je imao užasnu nezgodu na planinarenju. Pao je sa 15 metara na Kajmanskim ostrvima pošto ga konopac nije zadržao i tresnuo je o zemlju. Pretrpeo je mnoge povrede: probio je pluća i slomio mnogo kostiju. Posle nesreće, sanjao je da se vrati sportu koji je izabrao, planinarenju, ali kako je to moglo da se ostvari?
The answer was Team Cyborg, a team of surgeons, scientists and engineers assembled at MIT to rebuild Jim back to his former climbing prowess. Team member Dr. Matthew Carty amputated Jim's badly damaged leg at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, using the AMI surgical procedure. Tendon pulleys were created and attached to Jim's tibia bone to reconnect the opposing muscles. The AMI procedure reestablished the neural link between Jim's ankle-foot muscles and his brain. When Jim moves his phantom limb, the reconnected muscles move in dynamic pairs, causing signals of proprioception to pass through nerves to the brain, so Jim experiences normal sensations with ankle-foot positions and movements, even when blindfolded.
Odgovor je glasio: pomoću tima Kiborg, tima hirurga, naučnika i inženjera okupljenih na MIT-u sa ciljem da povrate Džimove penjačke sposobnosti. Član tima dr Metju Karti je amputirao Džimovu teško oštećenu nogu u bolnici „Brigam i klinika za žene“ u Bostonu, koristeći hirurški postupak AMI. Napravljene su trohleje za tetive i pričvršćene za Džimovu golenjaču da bi se ponovo povezali naspramni mišići. Postupak AMI je ponovno uspostavio nervnu vezu između mišića članka i stopala i njegovog mozga. Kada Džim pokrene svoj fantomski ud, ponovno povezani mišići se pokreću u dinamičnim parovima i time se signali propriocepcije pokreću kroz nerve do mozga, tako da Džim ima normalne osećaje pokreta i položaja članka i stopala, čak i kad su mu vezane oči.
Here's Jim at the MIT laboratory after his surgeries. We electrically linked Jim's AMI muscles, via the electrodes, to a bionic limb, and Jim quickly learned how to move the bionic limb in four distinct ankle-foot movement directions. We were excited by these results, but then Jim stood up, and what occurred was truly remarkable. All the natural biomechanics mediated by the central nervous system emerged via the synthetic limb as an involuntary, reflexive action. All the intricacies of foot placement during stair ascent --
Ovo je Džim u laboratoriji na MIT-u posle operacija. Pomoću elektroda smo povezali Džimove AMI mišiće za bionički ud, i brzo je naučio kako da pokreće bionički ud u četiri različita pravca. Bili smo oduševljeni ovim rezultatima, ali onda je Džim ustao i dogodilo se nešto zaista izuzetno. Sva prirodna biomehanika kojom posreduje centralni nervni sistem pojavila se preko sintetičkog zgloba kao nevoljna, refleksivna radnja. Sva složenost pokreta stopala prilikom penjanja uz stepenice -
(Applause)
(Aplauz)
emerged before our eyes. Here's Jim descending steps, reaching with his bionic toe to the next stair tread, automatically exhibiting natural motions without him even trying to move his limb. Because Jim's central nervous system is receiving the proprioceptive signals, it knows exactly how to control the synthetic limb in a natural way.
pojavila se pred našim očima. Ovo je Džimov silazak niz stepenice, gde dotiče sledeći stepenik svojim bioničkim prstima, automatski praveći prirodne pokrete, a da uopšte nije ni pokušao da pomeri nogu. Zbog toga što Džimov centralni nervni sistem prima proprioceptivne signale, on tačno zna kako da kontroliše sintetičku nogu na prirodan način.
Now, Jim moves and behaves as if the synthetic limb is part of him. For example, one day in the lab, he accidentally stepped on a roll of electrical tape. Now, what do you do when something's stuck to your shoe? You don't reach down like this; it's way too awkward. Instead, you shake it off, and that's exactly what Jim did after being neurally connected to the limb for just a few hours. What was most interesting to me is what Jim was telling us he was experiencing. He said, "The robot became part of me."
Sada se Džim kreće i ponaša kao da je sintetički ud deo njega. Na primer, jednog dana u laboratoriji, slučajno je stao na rolnu izolir trake. Šta radite kad vam se nešto zalepi za cipelu? Ne odlepljujete ga ovako rukom; isuviše je nezgodno. Umesto toga ga otresete, a to je ono što je Džim uradio nakon što je bio neurološki povezan sa nogom tek par sati. Ono što mi je bilo najinteresantnije je ono što nam je Džim rekao da oseća. Rekao je: „Robot je postao deo mene.“
Jim Ewing: The morning after the first time I was attached to the robot, my daughter came downstairs and asked me how it felt to be a cyborg, and my answer was that I didn't feel like a cyborg. I felt like I had my leg, and it wasn't that I was attached to the robot so much as the robot was attached to me, and the robot became part of me. It became my leg pretty quickly.
Džim Juing: Prvo jutro pošto su me povezali sa robotom, moja ćerka je sišla i pitala me kako je biti kiborg i odgovorio sam joj da se ne osećam kao kiborg. Osećam se kao da imam nogu, i da mi ne izgleda kao da sam ja prikačen na robota, već kao da je robot prikačen na mene i da je postao deo mene. To je postala moja noga prilično brzo.
Hugh Herr: Thank you.
Hju Her: Hvala.
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(Aplauz)
By connecting Jim's nervous system bidirectionally to his synthetic limb, neurological embodiment was achieved. I hypothesized that because Jim can think and move his synthetic limb, and because he can feel those movements within his nervous system, the prosthesis is no longer a separate tool, but an integral part of Jim, an integral part of his body. Because of this neurological embodiment, Jim doesn't feel like a cyborg. He feels like he just has his leg back, that he has his body back.
Povezivanjem Džimovog nervnog sistema dvosmerno sa njegovom sintetičkom nogom, postignuto je neurološko otelovljenje. Pretpostavio sam da, zato što Džim može da misli i pomera svoju sintetičku nogu i zato što može da oseti te pokrete u svom nervnom sistemu, proteza nije više posebno pomagalo već integralni deo Džima, integralni deo njegovog tela. Zbog ovog neurološkog otelovljenja, Džim se ne oseća kao kiborg. Oseća se kao da je povratio svoju nogu, da je povratio telo.
Now I'm often asked when I'm going to be neurally linked to my synthetic limbs bidirectionally, when I'm going to become a cyborg. The truth is, I'm hesitant to become a cyborg. Before my legs were amputated, I was a terrible student. I got D's and often F's in school. Then, after my limbs were amputated, I suddenly became an MIT professor.
Često me pitaju kada ću se neurološki povezati sa svojim sintetičkim nogama dvosmerno, kada ću postati kiborg. Iskreno, ne znam da li to želim. Pre nego što su mi amputirane noge, bio sam očajan đak. Dobijao sam dvojke, a često i jedinice. Onda, kad su mi noge amputirane, odjednom sam postao profesor na MIT-u.
(Laughter)
(Smeh)
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Now I'm worried that once I'm neurally connected to my limbs once again, my brain will remap back to its not-so-bright self.
Sad se brinem da će, kad se neurološki ponovo povežem sa nogama, moj mozak ponovo da se vrati u svoje stanje slabe pameti.
(Laughter)
(Smeh)
But you know what, that's OK, because at MIT, I already have tenure.
Ali, u stvari, na MIT-u već imam stalan posao, tako da je okej.
(Laughter)
(Smeh)
(Applause)
(Aplauz)
I believe the reach of NeuroEmbodied Design will extend far beyond limb replacement and will carry humanity into realms that fundamentally redefine human potential. In this 21st century, designers will extend the nervous system into powerfully strong exoskeletons that humans can control and feel with their minds. Muscles within the body can be reconfigured for the control of powerful motors, and to feel and sense exoskeletal movements, augmenting humans' strength, jumping height and running speed. In this 21st century, I believe humans will become superheroes. Humans may also extend their bodies into non-anthropomorphic structures, such as wings, controlling and feeling each wing movement within the nervous system. Leonardo da Vinci said, "When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been and there you will always long to return." During the twilight years of this century, I believe humans will be unrecognizable in morphology and dynamics from what we are today. Humanity will take flight and soar. Jim Ewing fell to earth and was badly broken, but his eyes turned skyward, where he always longed to return. After his accident, he not only dreamed to walk again, but also to return to his chosen sport of mountain climbing. At MIT, Team Cyborg built Jim a specialized limb for the vertical world, a brain-controlled leg with full position and movement sensations. Using this technology, Jim returned to the Cayman Islands, the site of his accident, rebuilt as a cyborg to climb skyward once again.
Verujem da će se primena neurootelovljavanja proširiti na još mnogo drugih stvari pored zamene udova i da će odvesti čovečanstvo u oblasti koje iz osnova redefinišu ljudski potencijal. U ovom 21. veku, kreatori će proširiti nervni sistem na moćne egzoskelete koje ljudi mogu da kontrolišu i osećaju svojim umom. Mišići u telu se mogu rekonfigurisati tako da mogu da upravljaju moćnim motorima i osećaju pokrete egzoskeleta, povećavajući pritom ljudsku snagu, visinu skakanja i brzinu trčanja. Verujem da će u ovom 21. veku ljudi postati superheroji. Možda će dodavati i produžetke na svoja tela u vidu neantropomorfnih struktura, kao što su krila, pritom kontrolišući i osećajući pokrete krila u nervnom sistemu. Leonardo da Vinči je rekao: „Kad jednom iskusite letenje, zauvek ćete hodati zemljom s pogledom usmerenim ka nebu, jer ste tamo bili i tamo ćete uvek čeznuti da se vratite.“ U završnim godinama ovog veka, verujem da će ljudi biti neprepoznatljivi morfološki i dinamički u odnosu na danas. Čovečanstvo će uzleteti i jezditi. Džim Juing je pao na zemlju i bio gadno povređen, ali njegov pogled se okrenuo ka nebu, gde je uvek čeznuo da se vrati. Posle nesreće, nije samo sanjao da ponovo hoda, već i da se vrati svom planinarenju. Na MIT-u, tim Kiborg je napravio Džimu specijalizovanu nogu za vertikalni svet, nogu koju kontroliše mozak, sa punim osećajima pokreta i položaja. Koristeći ovu tehnologiju, Džim se vratio na Kajmanska ostrva, mesto njegove nesreće, popravljen kao kiborg da bi se popeo još jednom ka nebu.
(Crashing waves)
(Huk talasa)
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(Aplauz)
Thank you.
Hvala vam.
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(Aplauz)
Ladies and gentlemen, Jim Ewing, the first cyborg rock climber.
Dame i gospodo, Džim Juing, prvi kiborg penjač.
(Applause)
(Aplauz)