Meet the robots for humanity

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. He shows off a nimble little quadrotor drone, created by a team led by Chad Jenkins, that gives him the ability to navigate space -- to once again look around a garden, stroll a campus … (Filmed at TEDxMidAtlantic.)

Sarge Salman: All the way from
Los Altos Hills, California,

Mr. Henry Evans.

(Applause)

Henry Evans: Hello.

My name is Henry Evans,

and until August 29, 2002,

I was living my version of the American dream.

I grew up in a typical American town near St. Louis.

My dad was a lawyer.

My mom was a homemaker.

My six siblings and I were good kids,

but caused our fair share of trouble.

After high school, I left home to study

and learn more about the world.

I went to Notre Dame University

and graduated with degrees
in accounting and German,

including spending a year of study in Austria.

Later on, I earned an MBA at Stanford.

I married my high school sweetheart, Jane.

I am lucky to have her.

Together, we raised four wonderful children.

I worked and studied hard
to move up the career ladder,

eventually becoming a chief financial officer

in Silicon Valley, a job I really enjoyed.

My family and I bought our first and only home

on December 13, 2001,

a fixer-upper in a beautiful spot

of Los Altos Hills, California,

from where I am speaking to you now.

We were looking forward to rebuilding it,

but eight months after we moved in,

I suffered a stroke-like attack
caused by a birth defect.

Overnight, I became a mute quadriplegic

at the ripe old age of 40.

It took me several years,

but with the help of an incredibly supportive family,

I finally decided life was still worth living.

I became fascinated with using technology

to help the severely disabled.

Head tracking devices sold commercially

by the company Madentec

convert my tiny head movements
into cursor movements,

and enable my use of a regular computer.

I can surf the web, exchange email with people,

and routinely destroy my friend Steve Cousins

in online word games.

This technology allows me to remain engaged,

mentally active,

and feel like I am a part of the world.

One day, I was lying in bed watching CNN,

when I was amazed by Professor Charlie Kemp

of the Healthcare Robotics Lab at Georgia Tech

demonstrating a PR2 robot.

I emailed Charlie and
Steve Cousins of Willow Garage,

and we formed the Robots for Humanity project.

For about two years, Robots for Humanity

developed ways for me to use the PR2

as my body surrogate.

I shaved myself for the first time in 10 years.

From my home in California,

I shaved Charlie in Atlanta. (Laughter)

I handed out Halloween candy.

I opened my refrigerator on my own.

I began doing tasks around the house.

I saw new and previously unthinkable possibilities

to live and contribute,

both for myself and others in my circumstance.

All of us have disabilities in one form or another.

For example, if either of us
wants to go 60 miles an hour,

both of us will need an assistive device called a car.

Your disability doesn't make you
any less of a person,

and neither does mine.

By the way, check out my sweet ride. (Laughter)

Since birth, we have both suffered from the inability

to fly on our own.

Last year, Kaijen Hsiao of Willow Garage

connected with me Chad Jenkins.

Chad showed me how easy it is

to purchase and fly aerial drones.

It was then I realized that I could also use

an aerial drone to expand the worlds

of bedridden people through flight,

giving a sense of movement and control

that is incredible.

Using a mouse cursor I control with my head,

these web interfaces allow me

to see video from the robot

and send control commands

by pressing buttons in a web browser.

With a little practice, I became
good enough with this interface

to drive around my home on my own.

I could look around our garden

and see the grapes we are growing.

I inspected the solar panels on our roof. (Laughter)

One of my challenges as a pilot is to land the drone

on our basketball hoop.

I went even further by seeing if I could use

a head-mounted display, the Oculus Rift,

as modified by Fighting Walrus,

to have an immersive experience

controlling the drone.

With Chad's group at Brown,

I regularly fly drones around his lab

several times a week,
from my home 3,000 miles away.

All work and no fun makes for a dull quadriplegic,

so we also find time to play friendly games

of robot soccer. (Laughter)

I never thought I would be able to casually

move around a campus like Brown on my own.

I just wish I could afford the tuition. (Laughter)

Chad Jenkins: Henry, all joking aside,

I bet all of these people here

would love to see you fly this drone

from your bed in California 3,000 miles away.

(Applause)

Okay, Henry, have you been to D.C. lately?

(Laughter)

Are you excited to be at TEDxMidAtlantic?

(Laughter) (Applause)

Can you show us how excited you are?

(Laughter)

All right, big finish.

Can you show us how good of a pilot you are?

(Applause)

All right, we still have a little ways to go with that,

but I think it shows the promise.

What makes Henry's story amazing

is it's about understanding Henry's needs,

understanding what people in Henry's situation

need from technology,

and then also understanding

what advanced technology can provide,

and then bringing those two things together

for use in a wise and responsible way.

What we're trying to do is democratize robotics,

so that anybody can be a part of this.

We're providing affordable,
off-the-shelf robot platforms

such as the A.R. drone, 300 dollars,

the Suitable Technologies beam,
only 17,000 dollars,

along with open-source robotics software

so that you can be a part of what we're trying to do.

And our hope is that, by providing these tools,

that you'll be able to think of better ways

to provide movement for the disabled,

to provide care for our aging population,

to help better educate our children,

to think about what the new types

of middle class jobs could be for the future,

to both monitor and protect our environment,

and to explore the universe.

Back to you, Henry.

HE: Thank you, Chad.

With this drone setup, we show the potential

for bedridden people to once again be able

to explore the outside world,

and robotics will eventually provide

a level playing field

where one is only limited by their mental acuity

and imagination,

where the disabled are able to perform

the same activities as everyone else,

and perhaps better,

and technology will even allow us to provide

an outlet for many people who are presently

considered vegetables.

One hundred years ago,

I would have been treated like a vegetable.

Actually, that's not true.

I would have died.

It is up to us, all of us, to decide how

robotics will be used, for good or for evil,

for simply replacing people

or for making people better,

for allowing us to do and enjoy more.

Our goal for robotics is to
unlock everyone's mental power

by making the world more physically accessible

to people such as myself and others like me

around the globe.

With the help of people like you,

we can make this dream a reality.

Thank you.

(Applause)