Where does one draw the line drawn between “able bodied” and “disabled”? Find out as Hugh Herr, MIT professor, researcher, and inventor, presents Merging Man and Machine at The Wolfsonian–Florida International University on Friday, April 16 at 7pm.
As director of the Biomechatronics Group at The MIT Media Lab and a double amputee himself, Herr is leading the race to merge the human body and the machine, forever changing how we think about human capability in the process. In this talk Herr will introduce new research initiatives soon to benefit us all. Some of these advancements include: the development of smart prostheses that emulate and even exceed the capabilities of biological limbs, such as the first battery-powered ankle-foot prosthesis which provides amputees with a more natural gait; social-emotional prostheses for persons with autism; and even robots that monitor and protect the health of children and the elderly.
Hugh Herr: Merging Man and Machine is presented in conjunction with the recent opening of Advertising for Health, an installation on view at The Wolfsonian that explores nearly a century of advertising for medicine, pharmacy, and public health. The installation features rare advertisements, printed ephemera, and posters from a recent gift by William H. Helfand, a recognized author and print collector. Together with a selection of printed materials and objects from a rarely-exhibited segment of The Wolfsonian’s collection, these works reflect, through their design strategies, changing ideas about health in the Americas and Europe between the late nineteenth century and the Second World War. The objects on view also encourage reflection on the “pursuit of health” in the present by conveying the lively history underlying issues that remain current today.
The public talk takes place in the auditorium of The Wolfsonian and is free for Wolfsonian members, members of the Florida International University community and students, and $10 for all others. For more information, please contact 305.535.2644 or lydia@thewolf.fiu.edu.
Advertising for Health and related public programs are sponsored in part by the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs, the Florida Arts Council, and the National Endowment for the Arts.