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The TED mission, and the TEDx mission is,[br]"Ideas Worth Spreading"

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... and it is a laudable one, in fact,[br]and it's a lot of fun.

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But there are some challenges in this[br]world in fact,

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that will not succumb to a great idea.

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You have to develop and deploy[br]solutions to defeat them.

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I like to call these opportunities,[br]"Problems Worth Solving."

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Today, you're going to learn[br]about two projects,

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where members of the Baltimore[br]community came together.

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And I like to call them[br]a forced collaboration,

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because they didn't know each other,

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but have committed to work together[br]to launch and deploy

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a solution today at TEDxBaltimore.

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And the first one is called[br]Project CASL (Castle).

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For the TEDxMidAtlantic conference[br]that was last October,

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I had recruited a fellow[br]by the name of Derek Braun.

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Derek is a geneticist. He's on the faculty[br]of Gallaudet University.

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Derek is deaf.

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And in early April, on April the 1st,[br]I went down to meet him.[br]

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April the 1st, no joke.[br](Laughter)

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On my drive back, I started thinking,[br]like a little hamster on the wheel.

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I've been in Baltimore about 2 years[br]at that time, and I've been out,

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I've gone out. I've been to conferences,[br]workshops, theater, so forth,

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and I had never encountered[br]a sign language interpreter.

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Which fundamentally meant that, in fact,

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I had never shared an experience[br]with a deaf person.

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Now I know the Deaf[br]certainly are among us,

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[br]and we are sharing public spaces,[br]roads, restaurants...

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...but how can this be normal?[br]It's weird, I thought.

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The reality is, that for a variety[br]of excuses and failures,

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a minority group within society[br]has become isolated from the rest.

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The Deaf community, you and me, are being[br]deprived of opportunities to interact.

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And these are experiences that would[br]augment us all, and enrich society.[br]

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We are being deprived of that.

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So how does something like this[br]come to be acceptable?

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Today? In America? Anywhere?[br]

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I don't know. I really don't.

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Well... At TEDxBaltimore we decided[br]to make it unacceptable.

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April the 1st, I met Derek Braun.[br]May the 3rd, I'm up in New York

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to run our first test…[br]...and this is the scene.

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Working with a pair of interpreters,[br]Chris Tester and Natalie Atlas.

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So you see on that far monitor,

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this is the feed from TEDxDelrayBeach[br]coming off the web in Florida.

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And right above that little monitor[br]facing Chris, is a little webcam.

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and it's capturing his interpretation[br]and this is what our viewers online saw.

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On one side Chris, and on the other side,[br]the TEDxDelrayBeach

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And low and behold, it worked.[br]Simple as that.

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And this is simply a web browser, a page.

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And what I learned was, that in sign[br]language, clapping is like this

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So, what we had demonstrated, [br]was that

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no matter where the interpreter is,[br]where the conference is,

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we can combine them on stage,[br]for Deaf viewers anywhere.

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And this is not even a platform,[br]it's a web browser. Neat, huh?

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And the website is ProjectCASL.com.

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April 1st, May 3rd, January 31st.

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Today we launched Project CASL.

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(Applause)

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And these are[br]the 4 volunteer interpreters,

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in this case, they're working[br]downstairs backstage.

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And in fact they really are pioneers.

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They volunteer their time[br]to come and be part of this.

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And today, we actually[br]raised the stakes even more,

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We are broadcasting[br]into the audience, into iPads.

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If you are using Project CASL,[br]could you please stand?

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It's not working?[br]Okay, well, technical difficulties.

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The idea was they'd be sitting there,[br]and we'd be broadcasting

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into the audience on iPads.

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We'll get it to work[br]by the end of the day.

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Fundamentally,[br]this is extremely important.

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This is a community event about bringing[br]people together, and that is the vision.

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Now, it's pretty big, you know,[br]April 1st, January 31st, pretty awesome.

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There's another reality though,[br]I want you to understand is that,

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I don't want you to think[br]this was all fun and games.

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In fact, it was fun,[br]but it's been challenging.

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I've been talking to everyone,[br]who would listen.

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And to some in fact who wouldn't listen.

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You know about this, if it's so simple,[br]why don't we do it? It's a simple browser.

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And some people asked me questions,[br]you know,

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is it appropriate to pay,[br]a professional interpreter?

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Not to pay the interpreter to volunteer?

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How would you prepare the interpreters?[br]How will the Deaf community receive it?

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And 60 other questions.[br]And you know what, I don't know.

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But I know this, what we are doing today,[br]has never been done before.

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And I recognize that some of the questions[br]that these people are asking me,

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and I will tell you, some of these critics[br]are in the audience, I see them.

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Some of the questions they raise,[br]are in fact legitimate,

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and they are very important,[br]but Project CASL comes first.

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Project CASL needs to succeed, so we can[br]get to the point that we can

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tackle the important questions.

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If CASL fails, the questions are moot.[br]Project CASL must succeed first.

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So I hope you join me in supporting[br]Project CASL, because I strongly believe

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that this is a "Problem Worth Solving"

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(Applause)

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And to members of the Deaf community,

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I want to say this,

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I am committed to developing[br]a sustainable business model

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to unleash CASL across Baltimore,

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and make it available to any TEDx[br]organizer in the world.

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Hell, even at the the big TED[br]conference in March.

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and I look to rely on your help[br]and your insight.

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and your help and your insight.

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Thank you very much, this is certainly[br]a "Problem Worth Solving". (Applause)