TED Talk- Jane Chen

"What could you place in your hands?"

In her TED talk, Jane Chen opened by saying, “Please close your eyes, and open your hands. Now imagine what you could place in your hands.” After giving some examples, Jane asked the audience to open their eyes. On the screen was a picture of a tiny premature baby, being held in two hands. As the picture was onscreen, she referred back to what we could place in our hands. She asked, “What about a life?” She went on to tell the story of the baby, and how millions of other are just like him. She explained the health problems premature babies have, and then went into a more personal story. The story was about a mother in India who lost her premature baby because she didn’t have a way to get him to a hospital. Jane helped put her topic into perspective. As she was speaking, she had passion about what she was talking about. She knew what she was saying and how to say it. The stories she told, and her personal experience helped the listener understand the problem. Jane then went on and told her solution, instead of introducing it first. I thought this was a great idea because introducing the problem at the beginning makes the audience want to find a solution. Chen’s idea was great and her passion for what she was doing made me want to help too.

Jane and her team came up with this idea

Jane Chen is the CEO and co-founder of a company called Embrace. Millions of babies die each year from premature birth. The world has technology to save these babies, yet it has become too expensive at around $20,000 per incubator. Warmth is crucial for a premature baby to regulate body temperature and prevent hypothermia. It can help not only survival but long term growth as well. Without these incubators, premature babies can have growing issues or even die. Jane, touched by the story of a premature baby’s mother from India wanted to change this. She and her partners realized they needed a local solution that could work without electricity, that was simple enough for a mother to use, something portable, that could be sterilized and reused across multiple babies, and most important ultra low cost. Jane and her team came up with a sleeping bag type heater. A wax-like substance that can be reheated by water is placed into the back and the baby can lay inside. The “sleeping bag” can maintain on temperature for 4 to 6 hours at a time. The target price point is only $25. That is less than .1% of the cost of an incubator in the US. This technology can not only save lives, but it can change countries. Overpopulated countries like China or India will have a reduction in population growth, because families don’t have to assume they will lose their baby. Not only is this technology doing good for babies and their families, it is helping countries as well. Jane talked about how we need to think of simple, localized, affordable solutions that have potential to make huge social impact. This idea relates to the Dave Eggers TED talk we watched. Dave and his team thought of a simple solution to help children with school, which was absolutely free. He had an impact on these kids and their community; it changed the way the children looked at learning. Simple solutions like these can be the future of technology. We just need to find a way to empathize and see through other people’s eyes. Jane looked through the eyes of an Indian mother, who lost her child because she could not afford the technology to save its life. Dave looked through the eyes of teachers and students, and though of a way to reinvent learning, and make it a fun and creative process. Empathy, which was brought up in A Whole New Mind, can help us better understand other people. It can help us change the world. 

Incubator needed by premature babies

Family effected by Embrace

Family effected by Embrace

Embrace being used to warm a premature baby

TED Talk- Dave Eggers

Dave Eggers’ TED talk was an idea that was so creative and fun. He turned a shop that he and co-workers used for magazine and book editing, and used it to put their skills to further use. This idea is so obvious, yet it is so unique. Why didn’t I think of this? That is the question that is going through my head right now. Dave opened a “pirate supply store” called 826 Valencia, a place to edit magazines and books. He thought, why not put our skills , as editors, to further use? So, he opened the front of the building as a free tutoring center for kids. During his talk, Dave talked about how enthusiastic these kids were to improve their English skills in a fun environment. Unlike classrooms, 826 Valencia gave one on one help and had the creative freedom, classes sometimes restricted.

Dave was so enthusiastic about what he was talking about; he was lost for words almost at the beginning. He saved himself though humor and passion. As a listener, you knew Dave had enthusiasm for what he and his co-workers were doing. He was real, not just helping kids for money, but for the sake of just helping kids. During his speech Dave also showed the audience pictures of other “stores” that had kind-of copied the idea of 826 Valencia.

What is important to take away from this video is learning can be fun. These students chose to show up everyday to be tutored. The volunteers also chose to give their time to these children. This is a fun learning environment with creative freedom. Classrooms in school are filled with fluorescent lighting, walls painted faded white, and boring desks all lined in a row. Just thinking about sitting in a room like that for an hour makes me tired. 826 Valencia looked at learning through a new perspective. Sometimes learning in a fun, distracting environment can give inspiration, like the pirate supply store. I don’t know any kids who look forward to sitting through a one hour class in a boring, jail-like classroom with a teacher who seems just as bored and unenthusiastic as the students. What is sad is that is what most schools are like. Dave is explaining with passion and freedom, education can change and students can be excited to learn. What Eggers is doing relates to another TED talk I watched by Barry Shcwartz. Mr. Shcwartz was talking about how we need to have practical wisdom in order to form a better society. Dave is the perfect example of this. He is helping others for the good of society, and not himself. More people like Dave need to step out and help change the world. As a student, I need teachers who will come to class not just enthusiastic about the subject, but creative as well. I need a teacher who will push me and support me, yet make class fun. I love to learn about subjects that are interesting, why can’t most teachers teach a subject and make it interesting?

TED Talk- Johnny Lee demos Wii Remote Hacks

Johnny Lee is a researcher who has learned how to hack Wii remotes. He demonstrated two ways to use Wii remotes for things other than video games in his TED talk. Lee said he is motivated about his research when he is given a simple opportunity to drastically change the distribution of information. Lee uses YouTube to share his Wii remote hack video for free. The first hack Lee shared was using the Wii remote to copy technology like a Smart board. The difference is this set-up costs only $50. Lee said that schools that do not have much money can use this as a much cheaper alternative to the thousand dollar interactive whiteboard. The second hack Lee shared was a head mounted 3-d viewer. This viewer had never been discovered before. Since Lee developed it, it has been used in numerous games and new technologies.

Lee’s speech was very interactive. He explained what he was doing during the whole speech so the audience would understand and stay engaged. What was cool about Lee’s talk was that he demonstrated technology we could make ourselves. He did not share some groundbreaking new technology that needs to be bought to use. He displayed cool technology we could make for less than $50. What Lee did relates to what we are reading in A Whole New Mind. Lee looked at a video game controller, but with a different perspective. The everyday person would not think to use a Wii remote to invent a touch screen projector or 3-d head device. This new perspective can help less privileged schools bring new technology in to help their students learn. What is even greater is that he is sharing this technology for free. Lee has a YouTube channel where he shares new technology he has researched, that costs very little. Whether this technology can help educate or is just for fun, all of it is approachable and shared at absolutely no cost. Some other technologies Lee has thought up are things like finger tracking in mid-air, and a haptic pen. While these technologies will not end world hunger, they can help develop things that can help out the everyday person for less money. It is discoveries like these that are helping new technology become more affordable.