e-NABLE Videos about e-NABLE, 25 Sep 2017

Previous Meeting Next Meeting

⏯

youtube image

►

From YouTube: 3D-Printed Bionic Hands are Changing Kids' Lives | Freethink Superhuman

Description

Powered by 3D printer technology, people are making prosthetics at a fraction of the cost. Watch this episode of “Superhuman” for the story of how e-NABLE, an online network of volunteers, has created 3,000 bionic hands for people in need (mostly kids) across 90 countries.

For more stories profiling pioneers of science and tech innovation, subscribe to Freethink at https://www.youtube.com/freethinkmedia

And follow Freethink across other platforms here:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/freethinkmedia
Twitter: https://twitter.com/freethinkmedia
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/freethinkmedia
Website: http://www.freethinkmedia.com

A

When I first started working on this project., I was really excited because I thought it could be something that was impactful., but I had no plan or concept of how it could be..

A

If enough people came onboard., it could have broader potential.

B

A lot of people have no idea. that something like this exist.

B

you're helping somebody else be complete.

A

Now that we can email a hand through space.

A

We're starting to enter a very cool realm of what is possible.

A

I always knew that I wanted to pursue art for my entire life.. I tend to just chase the next thing that looks interesting.

A

And do all sorts of weird and fun stuff.

A

So from time to time, I get commissions to create art for particular purposes.. A lot of it is in the realm of making weird costumes.

A

or mechanical props for theatre and stage.

A

Yeah,, it is really cool.

A

At the beginning of all this,, what surprised me was that art could serve a purpose that was very practical and I could create benefit as well.

A

When I made the video of the giant puppet hand- and I put it on youtube.- I didn't expect anything to happen.

A

and never would've anticipated that it would lead to me getting an email from somebody asking to work on a project like the one that came along..

A

That video was seen by a carpenter in south africa.

A

Who was missing fingers on one of his hands due to an accident.? He suggested that maybe he and I could work to create a replacement finger for him..

A

That design was seen by a mother of a little guy.

A

Who was born without any fingers. and she had the idea. hey,? What about an entire set.? I found an earlier design that was made in the mid-1800s.

A

We made a basic prototype for liam.

A

C

Liam, what do you think of your robot hand??

C

It's tough and it's beautiful.

A

It was very moving to be present for that moment., but liam was going to outgrow the metal hand that we had built as quickly as he outgrows shoes., and then somebody else had a suggestion,, maybe looking into 3-d printing..

A

So I did something that I thought was a long shot., which was I just called up. The customer service department of makerbot. described what we were up to.

A

asking, if maybe they'd, be able to give us a couple of machines. 'cause. We had no budget for this.. They ended saying that they would provide a couple of machines..

A

That's what we used to develop the first printable model for liam.. Once we had a digital design, that changes that game.

A

What surprised me was that it would lead to changing a lot of lives all over the world.

C

My kids,, a lot of them get bullied for being different.

C

We're not just making hands, it's more about giving them.

C

The confidence that they were lacking, before.

C

Ivan likes to describe me as the wizard behind the curtain.

C

I am kind of doing all of the behind-the-scenes work for e-nable. ivan released the design into the open-source community.

C

[ivan]. I thought that more innovation would take place.

A

If people weren't worried about patent infringement.

A

from there other people started to improve upon it.

A

jon schull made a google plus group that people could join.

A

And things blossomed.

A

well, I have three 3-d printers.

C

We have about 10,000 people who are in the google plus community.. A map was created where volunteers could put themselves on it.

C

and then families could find them. more families were hearing about it because it was getting shared on facebook.. Eventually, there were a lotta families that were looking for help.

C

and one of those kids ended up being aidan.

B

Well, before aidan was born., I wanted a son!. I was excited to see what the little guy would look. Like.

B

He was born without any fingers on his left. Hand.

B

I didn't know until I was holding him.

B

aidan, say football!.

B

In the beginning, I was always worried about what he wouldn't be able to do., I'm a huge video-gamer., and it was one of my things where I always wanted to just sit down and be able to just play a game..

B

You know, play a game with your son. and I was worried that that wouldn't happen.

B

All he's done is prove me, wrong.

B

[Aidan] what? [andrew], oh man!,.

C

[Aidan], yes, you get it. only from a powerful guy.

B

Children can be just brutally honest.

B

This other little kid didn't want to hold his hand. "uh. That's the kid with the weird hand.".

B

And that's what prompted us to try to find something.

B

To help boost his confidence.

B

I found out that if you just sign up for e-nable.

B

They'll match you with a local builder. and just send it to you for free..

B

We sent him aidan's measurements on a friday.

B

And that monday he had the hand finished.

B

Now, instead of being the weird kid with the weird hand., he is the kid with the robot hand.

B

After watching aidan get that hand.

B

and that smile on his face., I wanted anybody that was down..

B

I wanted to help them smile.

B

I started our own local e-nable chapter here in rockford.

B

The way that ivan did the open-source just to make sure no one could take credit for it.

B

Or charge it, I think, was a completely selfless move.

B

I can eat my ring pop!.

A

[Ivan], it would be a fantastic thing to be able to claim that I had some sort of master plan that led to something like e-nable, taking shape and prosthetic hands being built with 3-d printers all over the world., but nothing would be further from the truth..

A

The way I see it, my role in all this is that I helped to put something into motion.

A

and it's folks like andrew and aidan that are really going to carry it forward in a powerful, way. [assiant]. Alright, here we go.

C

[Jen], I definitely didn't expect the crazy things that were coming out of my garage would end up changing lives of people in countries. I haven't even heard of.

C

The project to me has grown bigger than just getting to enjoy, seeing the photos and the videos of the kids picking stuff up for the first time..

C

That always makes me cry., but all these designers and the people who've put their work into this project.

C

Have inspired a movement to create, for the sake of.

C

Improving the lives of other people., and that was just really powerful to me.

A

[Ivan], the other side of it is that the kids that use these are going to be the future engineers and designers that push the technology further to make the hands even better. and so getting them thinking about it. Now.

A

is what's going to build the future of what these devices become.