Where can you learn about a glove that can teach you how to play a song on the piano in 45 minutes (no musical experience needed), hear a legitimate ethical explanation on why Jewish people love Chinese food or take a stunning visual tour of a staff sergeant's journey to Mt. Everest to raise awareness for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)?
TEDxEmory hosted its fourth annual independently organized TED event at Emory's Woodruff Health Sciences Administration Building Auditorium to more than 700 audience members, according to College senior and TEDxEmory President Nikhil Raghuveera. TED – technology, entertainment and design – is a nonprofit organization devoted to "ideas worth spreading," according to its website.
While the first three sessions consisted of three speakers and a video of a TED talk, the final session featured three prominent speakers to wrap up the day's talks. Every talk was live streamed online, allowing for fans at home to tune into each session.
Doors opened at 10 a.m., allowing new guests to register prior to the first session of talks, which began at 10:40 a.m. All sessions were strictly timed, adhering to 85 minutes a session to allow for habitual breaks for attendees to munch on provided lunch and adjacent food trucks.
Attendees were treated to 12 speakers with a robust range of expertise, featuring pundits in the fields of technology, politics, entertainment, humanities and more.
College junior Jane Singer, current TEDx co-director of speakers, stressed the importance of having passionate, engaging speakers who were communicative with the TEDx team.
"I've exchanged emails with Google and Facebook executives, state Supreme Court justices and even one with James Franco (sadly, he declined our invitation to speak)," Singer wrote in an email to the Wheel. "The best part of every year is seeing speakers who I've met with and spoken to present talks that I've seen develop."
Robotics expert and Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering Magnus Egerstedt received admiration from the crowd with his video presentation of a swarm of independent, spider-like robots assembling to form letters by reacting to their surroundings using algorithms. Egerstedt emphasized that reactionary swarm robotic technology can be applied to a variety of situations, such as aiding in the search of earthquake victims or in hazardous areas.
Thad Starner, the technical lead for Google Glass and Associate Professor of Georgia Tech's School of Interactive Computing, exposed his latest innovation called Mobile Music Touch (MMT), which consists of a glove fitted with five miniature vibration motors linked to each fingerlet and commanded by a control box. The glove converts music into vibrations and teaches users how to play a song on the piano.
More importantly, the glove aids in the rehabilitation of patients with tetraplegia, or paralysis due to damage to the spinal cord.
Starner said he was amazed at the utility of the glove and asked the crowd for suggestions for future applications.
Talks beyond the technological realm included analyses and calls for improvements to human psyche. Staff Sgt. in the United States Air Force Reserve and physician assistant Nick Gibson displayed pictures of his attempt to climb summit Mt. Everest. He said it is important for veterans who have PTSD to overcome their fears through exploration.
CEO of consulting firm BrightHouse and self-proclaimed 'famillionaire' (family millionaire) Joey Reiman gave a presentation on the importance of business and purpose in our lives. Reiman stressed the important of finding one's vocare – the intersection of one's life and meaning in the world – in order to be successful and happy.
Raghuveera said this year's turn-out was TEDxEmory's highest ever since its inception in 2011. He added that collaboration and communication among his board is the reason for the event's success.
"[TEDxEmory is] entirely student run and organized with a team of 45-50 people," Raghuveera said. "You have your programming and operations in charge of anything from the venue to the reception to the lunch, to every little detail of the event. You have finance, which includes raising the capital to fund this event. And you have marketing to get people to come."
Some students attending the event responded positively to the speakers of the day.
"TEDxEmory succeeded in sparking a deeper discussion within the community and showed that there are so many cool things society has to offer and achieve," College sophomore Mine Loyan said. "I'd go again next year."
Other students said they enjoyed the event but thought certain speakers were standouts.
"All the presenters were fascinating overall, but Thad Starner was my favorite partially because he looked like he had a really good time in college based on his old photos," College sophomore Max Goodley said, referring to the slideshow Starner presented during the lecture.
– By Armaan Nathani
TEDxEmory Draws Record Numbers
:Michael Fier/Staff
Leah Ward Sears, former chief justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia, spoke at TEDxEmory, a student-run and independently organized event which hosted various speakers Saturday.
