Mick Ebeling: The invention that unlocked a locked-in artist

79,874 views ・ 2011-04-07

TED


Please double-click on the English subtitles below to play the video.

00:15
I have had the distinct blessing in my life
0
15260
3000
00:18
to have worked on a bunch of amazing projects.
1
18260
2000
00:20
But the coolest I ever worked on
2
20260
2000
00:22
was around this guy.
3
22260
2000
00:24
This guy's name is TEMPT.
4
24260
2000
00:26
TEMPT was one of the foremost graffiti artists in the 80s.
5
26260
3000
00:29
And he came up home from a run one day
6
29260
2000
00:31
and said, "Dad, my legs are tingling."
7
31260
2000
00:33
And that was the onset of ALS.
8
33260
2000
00:35
So TEMPT is now completely paralyzed.
9
35260
2000
00:37
He only has use of his eyes.
10
37260
3000
00:40
I was exposed to him.
11
40260
2000
00:42
I have a company that does design and animation,
12
42260
2000
00:44
so obviously graffiti is definitely an intricate part
13
44260
2000
00:46
of what we admire and respect in the art world.
14
46260
3000
00:49
And so we decided that we were going to sponsor
15
49260
3000
00:52
Tony, TEMPT, and his cause.
16
52260
2000
00:54
So I went and met with his brother and father
17
54260
2000
00:56
and said, "We're going to give you this money.
18
56260
2000
00:58
What are you going to do with it?"
19
58260
2000
01:00
And his brother said, "I just want to be able to talk to Tony again.
20
60260
3000
01:03
I just want to be able to communicate with him
21
63260
2000
01:05
and him to be able to communicate with me."
22
65260
2000
01:07
And I said, "Wait a second, isn't that -- I've seen Stephen Hawking --
23
67260
2000
01:09
don't all paralyzed people have the ability to communicate
24
69260
3000
01:12
via these devices?"
25
72260
2000
01:14
And he said, "No, unless you're in the upper echelon and
26
74260
3000
01:17
you've got really amazing insurance,
27
77260
2000
01:19
you can't actually do that.
28
79260
2000
01:21
These devices aren't accessible to people."
29
81260
2000
01:23
And I said, "Well, how do you actually communicate?"
30
83260
2000
01:25
Has everyone seen the movie "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly?"
31
85260
2000
01:27
That's how they communicate --
32
87260
2000
01:29
so run their finger along.
33
89260
2000
01:31
I said, "That's archaic. How can that be?"
34
91260
3000
01:34
So I showed up with the desire to just write a check,
35
94260
4000
01:38
and instead, I wrote a check
36
98260
2000
01:40
that I had no freaking idea how I was going to cash.
37
100260
3000
01:43
I committed to his brother and his father right then and there --
38
103260
2000
01:45
I'm like, "All right, here's the deal:
39
105260
2000
01:47
Tony's going to speak, we're going to get him a machine,
40
107260
2000
01:49
and we're going to figure out a way for him to do his art again.
41
109260
3000
01:52
Because it's a travesty that someone who still has all of that in him
42
112260
3000
01:55
isn't able to communicate it."
43
115260
2000
01:57
So I spoke at a conference a couple months after that.
44
117260
2000
01:59
I met these guys called GRL,
45
119260
2000
02:01
Graffiti Research Lab,
46
121260
2000
02:03
and they have a technology
47
123260
2000
02:05
that allows them to project a light onto any surface
48
125260
2000
02:07
and then, with a laser pointer, draw on it,
49
127260
2000
02:09
and it just registers the negative space.
50
129260
2000
02:11
So they go around and do art installations like this.
51
131260
3000
02:14
All the things that go up there, they said there's a life cycle.
52
134260
3000
02:17
First it starts with the sexual organs,
53
137260
3000
02:20
then it starts with cuss words,
54
140260
2000
02:22
then it was Bush slanders
55
142260
2000
02:24
and then people actually got to art.
56
144260
2000
02:26
But there was always a life cycle to their presentations.
57
146260
3000
02:29
So I went home and was having dinner with my wife
58
149260
2000
02:31
and was telling her about this,
59
151260
2000
02:33
and we were like, "Well wait a second. If we know that this technology exists
60
153260
3000
02:36
where you can use your eyes to control things,
61
156260
2000
02:38
why don't we figure out a way for TEMPT to control a laser
62
158260
3000
02:41
and he could do graf again? Well that would be awesome."
63
161260
3000
02:44
So that started the journey.
64
164260
2000
02:46
And about two years later, about a year later,
65
166260
3000
02:49
after a bunch of organization
66
169260
2000
02:51
and a bunch of moving things around,
67
171260
2000
02:53
we'd accomplished a couple things.
68
173260
2000
02:55
One, we battered down the doors of the insurance companies,
69
175260
2000
02:57
and we actually got TEMPT a machine
70
177260
2000
02:59
that let him communicate -- a Stephen Hawking machine.
71
179260
3000
03:02
(Applause)
72
182260
2000
03:04
Which was awesome.
73
184260
2000
03:06
And he's seriously one of the funniest -- I call him Yoda,
74
186260
2000
03:08
because you talk to the guy, you get an email from him,
75
188260
2000
03:10
and you're like, "I'm not worthy. This guy's so amazing."
76
190260
3000
03:13
The other thing we did
77
193260
2000
03:15
is we flew seven programmers from all over the world --
78
195260
2000
03:17
literally every corner of the world --
79
197260
2000
03:19
into our house.
80
199260
2000
03:21
My wife and kids and I moved to our back garage,
81
201260
3000
03:24
and these hackers and programmers
82
204260
2000
03:26
and conspiracy theorists and anarchists took over our house.
83
206260
3000
03:29
A lot of our friends thought we were absolutely stupid to do that
84
209260
3000
03:32
and that we were going to come back
85
212260
2000
03:34
and all the pictures on the wall would be removed and graf on the walls.
86
214260
3000
03:37
But for over two weeks,
87
217260
2000
03:39
we programmed,
88
219260
2000
03:41
we went to the Venice boardwalk,
89
221260
2000
03:43
my kids got involved,
90
223260
3000
03:46
my dog got involved,
91
226260
2000
03:48
and we created this.
92
228260
2000
03:50
This is called the EyeWriter,
93
230260
2000
03:52
and you can see the description.
94
232260
2000
03:54
This is a cheap pair of sunglasses
95
234260
2000
03:56
that we bought at the Venice Beach boardwalk,
96
236260
2000
03:58
some copper wire
97
238260
2000
04:00
and some stuff from Home Depot and Radio Shack.
98
240260
2000
04:02
We took a PS3 camera, hacked it open,
99
242260
3000
04:05
mounted it to an LED light,
100
245260
2000
04:07
and now there's a device that is free --
101
247260
3000
04:10
you build this yourself, we publish the code for free,
102
250260
2000
04:12
you download the software for free.
103
252260
2000
04:14
And now we've created a device
104
254260
2000
04:16
that has absolutely no limitations.
105
256260
3000
04:19
There's no insurance company that can say "No."
106
259260
2000
04:21
There's no hospital that can say "No."
107
261260
3000
04:24
Anybody who's paralyzed now has access
108
264260
2000
04:26
to actually draw or communicate using only their eyes.
109
266260
3000
04:29
(Applause)
110
269260
9000
04:38
Thank you.
111
278260
2000
04:43
Thank you guys very much. That was awesome.
112
283260
2000
04:47
So at the end of the two weeks,
113
287260
3000
04:50
we went back to TEMPT's room.
114
290260
2000
04:52
I love this picture, because this is someone else's room
115
292260
2000
04:54
and that's his room.
116
294260
2000
04:56
So there's all this hustle and bustle going on for the big unveiling.
117
296260
3000
04:59
And after over a year of planning,
118
299260
2000
05:01
two weeks of programming,
119
301260
2000
05:03
carb-fest and all-night sessions,
120
303260
2000
05:05
Tony drew again for the first time in seven years.
121
305260
3000
05:08
And this is an amazing picture,
122
308260
2000
05:10
because this is his life support system,
123
310260
2000
05:12
and he's looking over his life support system.
124
312260
2000
05:14
We kicked his bed so that he could see out.
125
314260
2000
05:16
And we set up a projector
126
316260
2000
05:18
on a wall out in the parking lot outside of his hospital.
127
318260
3000
05:21
And he drew again for the first time,
128
321260
2000
05:23
in front of his family and friends --
129
323260
2000
05:25
and you can only imagine
130
325260
2000
05:27
what the feeling in the parking lot was.
131
327260
2000
05:29
The funny thing was, we had to break into the parking lot too,
132
329260
3000
05:32
so we totally felt like we were legit in the whole graf scene too.
133
332260
2000
05:34
(Laughter)
134
334260
2000
05:36
So at the end of this, he sent us an email,
135
336260
3000
05:39
and this is what the email said:
136
339260
2000
05:41
"That was the first time I've drawn anything for seven years.
137
341260
3000
05:44
I feel like I had been held underwater,
138
344260
2000
05:46
and someone finally reached down
139
346260
2000
05:48
and pulled my head up so I could breathe."
140
348260
3000
05:51
Isn't that awesome?
141
351260
2000
05:53
(Applause)
142
353260
3000
05:56
So that's kind of our battle cry.
143
356260
3000
05:59
That's what keeps us going and keeps us developing.
144
359260
2000
06:01
And we've got such a long way to go with this.
145
361260
2000
06:03
This is an amazing device,
146
363260
2000
06:05
but it's the equivalent of an Etch A Sketch.
147
365260
2000
06:07
And someone who has that kind of artistic potential deserves so much more.
148
367260
3000
06:10
So we're in the process of trying to figure out
149
370260
2000
06:12
how to make it better, faster, stronger.
150
372260
2000
06:14
Since that time, we've had all kinds of acknowledgment.
151
374260
3000
06:17
We've won a bunch of awards.
152
377260
2000
06:19
Remember, it's free; none of us are making any money on this thing.
153
379260
2000
06:21
It's all coming out of our own pockets.
154
381260
2000
06:23
So the awards were like, "Oh, this is fantastic."
155
383260
2000
06:25
Armstrong Twittered about us,
156
385260
2000
06:27
and then in December, Time magazine honored us
157
387260
2000
06:29
as one of the top 50 inventions of 2010, which was really cool.
158
389260
3000
06:32
(Applause)
159
392260
2000
06:34
The coolest thing about this --
160
394260
2000
06:36
and this is what's completing the whole circle --
161
396260
3000
06:39
is that in April of this year,
162
399260
2000
06:41
at the Geffen MOCA in downtown Los Angeles,
163
401260
3000
06:44
there's going to be an exhibition called "Art of the Streets."
164
404260
2000
06:46
And "Art of the Streets" is going to have
165
406260
2000
06:48
pretty much the bad-asses of the street art scene --
166
408260
2000
06:50
Banksy, Shepard Fairey, KAWS --
167
410260
3000
06:53
all of these guys will be there.
168
413260
2000
06:55
TEMPT's going to be in the show,
169
415260
2000
06:57
which is pretty awesome.
170
417260
2000
06:59
(Applause)
171
419260
2000
07:01
So basically this is my point:
172
421260
3000
07:05
If you see something that's not possible,
173
425260
2000
07:07
make it possible.
174
427260
2000
07:09
Everything in this room wasn't possible --
175
429260
2000
07:11
this stage, this computer, this mic, the EyeWriter --
176
431260
3000
07:14
wasn't possible at one point.
177
434260
2000
07:16
Make it possible, everyone in this room.
178
436260
2000
07:18
I'm not a programmer,
179
438260
2000
07:20
never done anything with ocular recognition technology,
180
440260
2000
07:22
but I just recognized something and associated myself with amazing people
181
442260
3000
07:25
so that we could make something happen.
182
445260
2000
07:27
And this is the question I want everyone to ask yourself
183
447260
2000
07:29
every single day
184
449260
2000
07:31
when you come up with something you feel that needs to be done:
185
451260
3000
07:34
if not now, then when? And if not me, then who?
186
454260
3000
07:37
Thank you guys.
187
457260
2000
07:39
(Applause)
188
459260
4000
About this website

This site will introduce you to YouTube videos that are useful for learning English. You will see English lessons taught by top-notch teachers from around the world. Double-click on the English subtitles displayed on each video page to play the video from there. The subtitles scroll in sync with the video playback. If you have any comments or requests, please contact us using this contact form.

https://forms.gle/WvT1wiN1qDtmnspy7