Hugh Herr
Biomechanics Pioneer
Hugh Herr
Biomechanics Pioneer
Biography
Hugh Herr is creating bionic limbs that emulate the function of natural limbs. Time Magazine coined Dr. Herr the "Leader of the Bionic Age" because of his revolutionary work in the emerging field of Biomechatronics - technology that marries human physiology with electromechanics. A double amputee himself, he is responsible for breakthrough advances in bionic limbs that provide greater mobility and new hope to those with physical disabilities. He is currently Professor of Media Arts and Sciences at the MIT Media Lab, and co-leads the Yang Center for Bionics at MIT.
Herr is the author and co-author of over 200 peer-reviewed manuscripts and patents, chronicling the science and technology behind his many innovations. These innovations include active Leg Exoskeletons, Powered Ankle-Foot Prostheses, and neural interfacing technologies. A powered ankle-foot prosthesis called EmPower, which emulates the action of a biological leg and, for the first time, provides amputees with a natural gait, was named to the list of Top Ten Inventions in the health category by TIME magazine in 2007. Today the EmPower Ankle-Foot Prosthesis has been clinically shown to be the first leg prosthesis in history to reach human normalization, allowing amputees to walk with normal levels of speed and metabolism as if their legs were biological once again.
In 2015, Herr’s MIT research group invented the Agonist-Antagonist Myoneural Interface, a novel surgical procedure for limb amputation and neural interfacing that allows persons with limb loss to control their synthetic limbs through thought, as well as to experience natural proprioceptive sensations from the synthetic limb. Herr has received many accolades for his groundbreaking innovations, including the 13th Annual Heinz Award for Technology, the Economy and Employment; the Prince Salman Award for Disability Research; the Smithsonian American Ingenuity Award in Technology, the 14th Innovator of the Year Award, and the 41st Inventor of the Year Award, and the 2016 Princess of Asturias Award for Technical & Scientific Research. Hugh's story has been told in a National Geographic film, Ascent: The Story of Hugh Herr; Augmented, a Nova PBS documentary produced by STAT News; and episodes and articles featured in CNN, The Economist, Discover and Nature.
Speaker Videos
Bionic Revolution
TED: How We'll Become Cyborgs and Extend Human Potential
TED: New Bionics Let Us Run, Climb and Dance
The Future Factory
The World We Dream
Ascent
Freescale Technology
The Limit of Human Performance
Technology & The Human Spirit
Speech Topics
The New Era of Extreme Bionics
Society is at the threshold of a new age when machines will no longer be separate, lifeless mechanisms, but will instead be intimate extensions of the human body. Such a merging of body and machine will not only improve the quality of life for disabled people, but will allow persons with normal physiologies to experience augmented capabilities – cognitively, emotionally and physically. There soon will be a world where technology will merge with our bodies to forever change our concept of human capability. Hugh Herr features research work from MIT’s Center for Extreme Bionics that is blurring the distinction between “able-bodied” and “disabled,” demonstrating technologies at the neural-digital interface. These new research initiatives are capable of addressing a plethora of conditions currently at clinical impasses, from optogenetic approaches to treat blindness to the development of smart prostheses that can emulate – and even exceed the capabilities of biological limbs. Herr believes that through an ever-increasing technological sophistication, human disability will largely be eliminated in this 21st century, setting the stage for innovations that will ultimately benefit all humanity.
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